Waking Up In Vegas
by kachilee07
Summary: She was there for a job. He followed, interested. After a night neither of them can remember, the repercussions will be something they can't forget. Add in quick tempers and a chemistry that they can't deny, and you've got one hell of a hangover that just won't end. And honestly, maybe they don't want it to end.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Here we go! Part 3 of this odd little series that's not really a series that I've got going. ...Wow. I'm dumb. Lol. It's not necessary for you to read the other two to understand this. It helps, but not necessary.  
**

** For all of those who wanted to know, here's the story behind Carlos and Amanda's Vegas fun...and the repercussions. Hope y'all enjoy this one! :D**

* * *

Amanda Winchester stared out the window of the taxi cab. Bright lights flashed all around her, each seemingly calling out to her, beckoning her in further. There was just something about Las Vegas that spoke to her. Maybe it was the thrill of gambling; the idea of being the next person to strike it rich in Sin City. Maybe it was the idea of being able to drink her cares away with complete strangers (after her work was done of course). Or maybe it was just the excitement of knowing that _anything_ could happen. After all, it was Vegas. And what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

"You ready for this week, Manda?" Her sister's voice broker her out of her trance. She turned to Cassie, giving her a grin.

"Big conference full of doctors? Hell yes I am!"

Cassie laughed. "Easy there. Remember what happened last time?"

Amanda frowned at her. "It was only a fling. And he was a jerk anyways."

"If it was just a fling, why did you trash his hotel room and almost castrate him with a golf club?" Cassie asked, smirking and arching an eyebrow at her sister.

"Asshole should have mentioned that he was engaged! I didn't appreciate hearing about it _after_ the fact from his fiance. Never intended on being the other woman in my life. Jerk had it coming to him."

"That he did," Cassie conceded. "So since you're forever banned from Caesar's Palace hotel for life due to the almost castration incident, what hotel is this taking place in?"

"The Bellagio. Supposed to be some swanky place. Lots of glitz, glam…"

"So a typical resort on the strip?" Cassie finished.

"Bingo," Amanda replied. "Speaking of being ready, are _you_ ready for this week?" she asked, giving her sister an amused, yet challenging look.

"Probably not," she said dryly. "You're almost like a slave driver when it gets to crunch time."

Amanda laughed. "There's nothing wrong with perfection and wanting to be the best," she retorted. Cassie let out an ungraceful snort. "All the same, I do appreciate you coming out to help me." Cassie shrugged.

"Hey, free trip to Vegas."

"Yeah but you're leaving before the fun really begins," Amanda said, waggling her eyebrows in exaggeration. Cassie gave a huge sigh.

"I know. But I have to start teaching summer school next week."

Amanda gave her a disgusted look. "Ugh. Loud group of annoying kids or the drunkenness and debauchery that is Sin City?" she said, holding up her hands as if weighing her options. "Debauchery it is!"

Cassie laughed, slapping her on the arm.

"Just you wait. One of these days someone's going to come along who'll make you rethink your depraved lifestyle."

"Nope," Amanda replied, popping the 'p' and shaking her head. "Any guy I end up with better be just as crazy as I am."

* * *

"I need more steak kabobs on the main table out there!" Amanda yelled out to the workers in the kitchen. "They're running out of quiche as well. And why the hell is the cake trolly _still_ not assembled?"

She glared at the group of young girls who were in charge of it, making them cower back in fear.

"T-the trolly was shaky so we were trying to fix it before putting the cake on it," replied one girl hesitantly.

"Save it. I don't want excuses. I want results! Get it working and ready to go. We've got twenty minutes before the presentation." They nodded frantically at her, standing stock still. "MOVE!" she barked. They jumped and scrambled away.

"You could go a little easier on them."

Amanda whirled around to glare at her sister. "Nice and easy doesn't get the job done. Shouldn't you be monitoring the servers?"

Cassie raised her hands in defense. "Just had a quick phone call. I think you'll be interested to know that Ca-" She was interrupted by her sister's irritation.

"I don't care if that was the queen herself calling you! It's the first night of the conference and I need everyone, and I mean _everyone_ to be doing what they're supposed to. Not making phone calls. Do that on your own time," she snapped.

Cassie rolled her eyes, not bothering to take her sister's tone to heart. She shrugged; Amanda would just be surprised then. She raised her hands a little higher in submission. "Whatever. I'm on it."

With that, she turned and walked out of the kitchen, standing by the door to supervise the flow of servers. Amanda huffed out an annoyed breath and turned back to the rest of the kitchen to make sure everything was being done to her liking.

* * *

"I forgot just how bitchy you get on the first night of one of these things," Cassie said. She slipped off her shoes, giving a little moan as the heels came off. Flopping down on the couch in their suite, she sighed.

"This conference is huge for me. And it's only the first night. We've still got two more to go. Plus the closing out on Friday morning." Amanda began to peel out of her clothes, tossing them haphazardly across the room before grabbing her sweats.

"Ugh. Don't remind me. Couldn't you be a little nicer though?"

After getting comfy, she sat cross legged on the bed. "If I don't yell at everyone, nothing will get done. Besides, they expect that of me by now. I'd hate to disappoint them," she replied, grinning sardonically.

"Ha ha ha," Cassie said. She threw an arm over her eyes. "What time do we have to be up tomorrow?"

"Six am."

She moaned once more, lifting her head to glare at Amanda. "I hate you. I'm never doing this again with you."

"Yes you will because you're my sister and you love me. And the free trips you get," Amanda replied, grinning at her again, a laugh in her voice.

"Bitch."

* * *

Stepping into the elevator, Amanda didn't even bother to look up from her checklist. She muttered to herself, going over the various things she still had left to do before the next meeting took place in a few hours. A voice next to her startled her, making her jump.

"Well that was easier than I expected."

Amanda's head shot up, her hand coming up to cover her heart to calm it as she spotted a familiar Latino standing across from her. Carlos smirked at her, his arms crossed as he casually leaned against the elevator wall. Amanda was momentarily distracted by the muscles in his arms, the definition in them making her brain go foggy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she finally gasped out, confusion on her face as she realized that he was really there. Carlos shrugged.

"I had a little more time before heading back to the studio. What better way to use that then a Vegas vacation?" he replied, smirk growing wider.

She seemed to gain back her ability to think properly, causing her eyebrow to raise at him.

"Oh really? And you just happened to be staying at the same hotel that I'm at?" she asked, a sarcastic tone to her voice. Carlos laughed a little, raising his hands in submission.

"Alright. You caught me. I overheard Emily and Kate talking about you staying in this hotel due to you being banned from another one. Which, by the way, I'm really interested to know what you did to get banned from a hotel in _Vegas_," he replied, curiosity along with amusement flying across his face.

She laughed. "You really don't want to know."

"You can't just say that. It's like a forbidden secret. I've got to know now." Amanda just laughed once more, shaking her head, dark hair moving over her shoulders. "Maybe you could tell me the story over drinks tonight?" he questioned.

Her heart sped up slightly at that, but she shook her head at him.

"No can do, hot stuff. I'm booked for the next two nights. Work, remember?" she said, waving her checklist in front of him.

Acknowledgement shone in Carlos' eyes. "Right. Forgot about that. Need any help?"

Amanda let out a huge laugh, tears forming in her eyes. He stared at her with an almost affronted expression.

"What? You don't think I could help?"

"Oh honey no. You couldn't handle it." The elevator stopped, doors opening. Amanda stepped out, turning back to face him. "Maybe I'll take you up on that drink when I'm through. Night, Romeo," she said, tossing a mix between a wave and salute at him before heading down the hallway towards her suite.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Woot! I'm glad y'all liked the beginning of this! Now let's have some fun... :P**

**Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews! I appreciate y'all SO much! **

**Paumichyy -**** Bahaha! Amanda def does some crazy things. And Carlos is just adorable with his stalkerish ways. :P  
****SuperSillyStories -**** YES! I love how you got banned. Kinda made my day. :P You ARE the queen of revenge, there's no mistaking that. And you'll def be getting him...soon. Lol.  
****Guest**** - LOL. I loved why she got banned. Destroying a room and almost castration? Why not? Ahahaha! And it's Vegas, there's DEF going to be plenty of fun! :D  
****SeraphinaCruz -**** Girl, you're gonna get a MAJOR Carlos fix with this story! :D  
****Emy . Elle -**** Yeah a golf club! Can't you imagine how painful that would be? :D And I love bitchy Manda...mostly because I'm the same way when I'm in charge we're under pressure. LOL. And let's be honest, neither of them know what they're getting into. LOL.  
****RandomWriter23 -**** Yay! I'm glad you think it's awesome...cause I kinda do too. LOL. And goodness...Amanda's gonna get in trouble at some point, if not banned from somewhere else in Vegas. :P  
****Carlos'sCupcake -**** Oh I totally do too! I'm SO mean when I'm in charge and we're in crunch time. LOL. I think it's just a reflex for all of us at this point.  
****ValentineZombie -**** HECK YES VEGAS! :D I loved the golf club; those suckers can be so painful if used correctly. ...Not that I would know or anything... :P Carlos, violence prone Manda and Vegas? Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun. :D**

* * *

Carlos stood off to the side in the busy kitchen, silently watching. It was almost like a big production. The servers and various cooks were like dancers. And Amanda was at the center of it all; the choreographer, shouting orders at any and every one. To an outsider, she came across as an evil slave driver, seemingly insensitive to her workers. But as Carlos watched, he saw what she really was: the director. Without her yelling instructions, it would have been complete chaos. And despite the sometimes fear in the expressions of her staff, he could see the admiration they had for her. Someone had to be in charge and they were all grateful it wasn't them.

For Amanda's part, she was too caught up to even notice Carlos standing there. Cassie, however, did see him.

"What's a single guy like you doing hanging around the kitchen when you could be out living it up on the Strip?" she asked when she had a spare moment.

Carlos shot her a grin and shrugged. "I like the view from right here." His eyes wandered back to Amanda right as she yelled at one of her cooks. "She's got quite a temper on her, doesn't she?" he questioned, eyebrows raising in interest. Cassie laughed.

"You have no idea. I better get back to work before she notices that I'm not at my station. I'd clear out unless you want to be on the receiving end of that," she said, gesturing to her sister before walking away.

"I'll take my chances," Carlos murmured to himself.

As if she had heard, Amanda suddenly turned towards him, eyes widening when they landed on his grinning face. Masking her surprise, she stalked over to him.

"What the hell are you doing in my kitchen?" she asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Just came for the show," he responded, smirking when her eyes flashed at him. "You're really something when you're all worked up. But you're great at your job. I didn't know what to expect when I walked in here. This environment suits you."

Amanda stared at him for a few moments. His hand came up to brush away the few tendrils that had escaped her bun, snapping her back. She pushed his hand away and stepped so she was toe to toe with him. Her eyes glared at him.

"I don't have time for flattery or backhanded compliments. So listen up, Romeo. I've got work to do and don't need you standing around distracting my staff. Get the hell out of my kitchen before I call security; or worse, throw you out myself," she threatened, eyes flashing dangerously.

He chuckled at her and slowly took a step backwards. "No need to get violent. But there is one thing that I want to do…," he said right before yanking her close to him and covering her mouth with his.

Pure shock kept Amanda from reacting and hitting him. After a few brief seconds, Carlos pulled away, smirking at her stunned expression.

"See you around, Manda," Carlos said before disappearing through the swinging doors.

Amanda stood there, staring at the doors flying back and forth, trying to control her heartbeat. _What_ the hell was _that_?

Turning, she saw all the staff standing stock still, just staring at her.

"What the hell are you staring at? Get back to work!" she barked.

* * *

"So I saw that lovely lip lock earlier," Cassie said as they reached their suite that night after cleaning up. It was almost midnight and both women were exhausted. Amanda shot an annoyed glance at her sister.

"It was nothing," she replied almost too quickly. Cassie gave her a knowing look.

"Looked like a lot more than nothing to me," she said, biting her cheek to keep from grinning.

Amanda flipped her off as she walked into the bathroom.

"I still don't appreciate the fact that you knew Carlos was coming out here and you didn't bother to tell me," her voice called out.

"As I pointed out earlier, I tried to, but you wouldn't hear it."

"Well you knew better than to interrupt the workflow. You should've told me after," Amanda retorted.

"It slipped my mind later," Cassie said, a laugh coloring her voice.

"Bullshit," she said, walking out of the bathroom and flopping down on her bed. This time Cassie did laugh.

"What's the problem? You were interested and flirting like crazy with him back in Texas at Em's house."

"Yeah. That was when I thought I'd never see him again."

"So you're not interested in him at all?" Cassie asked. "Because if you're not, I think I could use some fun before I go back home…," she trailed off at Amanda's glare. Smirking knowingly at her, she laid down on her own bed. "That's what I thought."

Amanda opened her mouth, staring at her sister. "Bitch. That was sneaky for you."

Cassie shrugged.

"It's obvious there's something there between you two. Why not act on that?"

"Because as you so nicely pointed out the other day, bad things tend to happen when I act without thinking. What happened to being careful?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. Once again, Cassie just shrugged.

"He's single, you're single. He's a famous pop star. You're staying here for another week. And you're in _Vegas_. You're an idiot if you _don't_ do something about that."

* * *

She wasn't an idiot, Amanda thought to herself as she walked towards the elevator. It wasn't that she _wasn't_ interested in Carlos. In fact, she was _very_ interested in him. I mean, had you seen his arms? He could probably bench press a couple of horses. Okay, maybe not multiple ones, but still. She really just wanted to touch them. And never stop.

But as she had acknowledged before, she was not an idiot. Surely groping Carlos would be an idiotic thing to do. Especially considering her history in this city. She was definitely better off not thinking about it.

She stepped off the elevator and bumped right into a hard chest. Lifting her head, she pushed her glasses up to see Carlos' face a few inches from her own.

"Sorry bout that," he said, grinning down at her. "Wasn't watching where I was going."

Something about that grin made Amanda think that he most definitely had been watching. Suddenly she was aware of the grip he had on her arms. The hairs on her arms stood on end, goosebumps beginning to appear. Feeling her mind start to cloud over, she quickly stepped out of his arms and backed away.

"No problem," she responded, side stepping him. His voice stopped her.

"Going to breakfast?"

Groaning mentally, Amanda turned to face him and nodded. "Yeah. Quick one before heading into the kitchen."

Carlos looked down at his watch and frowned.

"So early?" Amanda shrugged at him.

"Gotta start getting ready for the big one tonight. And get some stuff prepared ahead of time for the closing out tomorrow morning."

"Right," Carlos responded, drawing out the vowel. "Well, want some company for breakfast?"

Amanda debated inwardly. Her head was screaming "NO!" loud and clear at her. Breakfast with a hot Latino man with fabulous arms and a killer grin in Las Vegas would only lead to bad things. At least, that's how it was for her. She opened her mouth to decline his offer.

"Sure," she replied, surprising herself. She started swearing at herself in her head as Carlos took her arm and led her towards the restaurant. He grinned down at her and her heart fluttered slightly.

Oh this was _not_ good.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Okay. So I've had kind of an odd day. It was my first day taking over the children's department where I volunteer as the head of the department. I had over 30 kids ages 3-12 by MYSELF. Needless to say, I almost cried after the morning lessons. So I go back for round two and no lie, two my boys brought me a dozen original glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. They hugged me and told me that they would be my best friends. So that kinda made everything better. I have the best kids.  
**

**BUT. Then I saw the pictures of James in a tux and um...I might be dead. I mean, I've already got insane James feels like all the time. But this just killed me. Just ask SuperSillyStories. I might have texted her the word FUUUUUUCK a few too many times. And I don't even use that word!**

**Still, I promised her an update. I tried super hard, but it didn't come out the way I wanted it to because let's be honest, my brain is fried. **

**I'm exhausted from everything today so I'm skipping shout outs. BUT I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WHO READS AND REVIEWS! You make my world go round (I know it's cheesy; let me have my cheesiness)!**

* * *

"I need everyone out there, clearing out the floor," Amanda yelled out to her staff. "Except you two," she said, pointing to two of her male servers. "You need to get the cake on the stand and ready to go on the cart. Get moving! We've got 15 minutes till final presentation time!" she shouted.

It was the last morning of the conference. After serving a buffet style breakfast, Amanda would present the huge, 10 foot cake to the convention as a way to end things. This meant that she had to have the entire ballroom cleared of any remaining food in under 15 minutes. Along with that, she'd have a handful of serves waiting off to the side, ready to cut and serve the cake after the presentation and all pictures were taken.

The cake had been placed on the cart and was waiting backstage for her to present it. She received the signal from the host, so she took her position and began to push.

There was a small bump on the floor that Amanda hadn't anticipated. As strong as she was, the cake was much too heavy to be pushed over it.

"You have got to be kidding me," she muttered, pushing the hair out of her face as she moved around to the front.

"Allow me," she heard a familiar male voice say. Amanda turned her head to glare at Carlos.

"What the hell are you doing here? Only authorized personnel are allowed. How did you get back here?"

"I'm good at charming my way in," he said on a grin. Amanda's heart jumped slightly at that. Something told her that he meant more than just getting backstage.

"Be that as it may, I've got a 10 foot cake that needs to be on that stage in a few moments and you're in my way."

Carlos didn't budge from in front of the cart. "Let me help…"

"I don't need your help," Amanda said stubbornly, almost like a child. Carlos raised an eyebrow at her in challenge.

"This thing has got to weigh more than twice your size." When she started to protest, he cut her off. "Oh just let someone help you for a change."

With that, he pushed her out of the way and easily lifted the cart over the bump. Amanda was entranced by the muscles rippling in his arms. She almost swore aloud.

"There. You better get it on that stage now," Carlos said before walking away.

Amanda shook her head to clear it. She took a quick breath and began to push the cart onstage.

* * *

Later that night Amanda and Cassie went out for a night on the town. Amanda made sure that Carlos was nowhere in sight before heading out. She didn't want to be distracted by thoughts of a certain sexy Latino while she was out partying with her sister.

The next morning, Cassie left to go back to Texas. Amanda saw her off from the lobby, making a quick escape up the elevator the moment she had gone. She was almost surprised when she made it back to her room without any sign of Carlos.

Not like she was avoiding him or anything. She just…didn't want to see him.

That was a lie.

Amanda really wanted to see him. But this was Vegas. And since her work was done, she was here to have a good time, preferably with strangers. Not with sexy men that had connections with her friends back home. Crazy things tended to happen in Vegas; no need to make those crazy things even crazier by getting entangled with him, no matter how delicious his arms were.

All she needed to do was avoid all contact with him. Maybe if she didn't see him for a day or two, he'd get the hint she was reluctant to give. Deciding she'd be safe, Amanda spent the day in the suite, lounging around and resting up after a long week of work. It wasn't hiding out, not when she needed to rest so that she'd be ready to go out at night. At least that's what she told herself.

Hours later she stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, intent on taking Vegas by storm. Her eyes scanned the lobby, on alert for a certain dark skinned male. After a quick sweep, she smiled slightly to herself before walking confidently towards the door. She stepped outside, taking in the night air.

The lights of the strip flashed brightly at her, calling. She could practically hear the casinos, the sounds of slot machines ringing through the noise. People walked every which way, some with purpose, some just looking for a place that caught their eye. Amanda stood and watched for a few moments, soaking in the busy atmosphere around her. Suddenly, a rose was thrust up under her face, causing her to blink at it in surprise.

"Reminded me of you."

When she turned, she wasn't surprised to see Carlos standing there, rose clutched in his extended arm. Before she could allow herself to be charmed, Amanda spoke.

"Are you stalking me or something?" she asked bluntly. Carlos let out a laugh.

"No. Honest I'm not. I just happened to be heading out and I saw you standing here looking a little lonely."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? You were just gonna wander the Strip with a rose, hoping to find some pretty girl that would fall for your lines?" His lips curved up to one side.

"Didn't have to wander far, now did I?"

Amanda couldn't help herself, she laughed. She accepted the rose, hesitantly, her eyes still trained on his face.

"Thank you, for the rose. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to experience Vegas."

Carlos' hand on her arm stopped her from leaving. "Alone?" he questioned. Amanda raised an eyebrow again at his hand.

"Yes. Alone."

She started to move, but Carlos held tight.

"Have a drink with me," he said. Once again, she turned to look at him.

"I don't think that's such a good a idea," Amanda replied honestly. Carlos frowned down at her.

"Why not? We're both single and we're not strangers. Let me buy you a drink."

Amanda looked into his dark eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. Quickly, she averted her eyes to avoid being sucked in further.

"Why are you so pushy?" she asked.

"Why are you so stubborn?" he countered, biting back a grin. "It's just one drink. We'll go wherever you want. One drink. Unless you're scared," he said, almost taunting her.

Amanda felt her anger spike a little at the dare. "Of course not. Fine. One drink."

Suddenly her arm was entwined with his as he began walking down the strip with her, guiding her along. As they walked, she was struck by how smoothly he had maneuvered her into that. She took a few slow breaths, trying to calm herself down. There was no need to panic. It was just one drink.

How much harm could one drink do?


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews! It means so much to me! And thank y'all for continuing to stick with me, even though I've got odd updating habits. **

**This has been a rough week for me. One of the worst that I've ever had in my entire life. I didn't think about writing even once this week. Today was the first day that I started to feel like myself again, so I made myself update. Things are still not the best, so I'm just going to say that I may only update once or twice a week. And for tonight, I'm skipping shout outs again. I know, I'm horrible! I'm sorry for that! :(**

* * *

Sunlight was pouring through the window, filtering through Amanda's eyelids the next morning. She lifted her hand, dropping it heavily over her head. The shifting of sheets next to her followed by a groan had her eyes flying open. The light assaulted them, making her almost instantly regret that decision. Still, she sat up, as quickly as her body would allow her, and looked to her right.

Someone was rolled up in the sheets next to her. Keeping her hand on her head as if to stop the pounding that was going on in it, she opened her mouth to speak.

"What the hell happened last night? And who the hell are you?" she asked, her voice coming out somewhat scratchy. Another groan sounded from the pile of blankets.

"Could you keep it down? Some of us are suffering from a rather vicious hangover."

The familiar voice had her eyes widening. Taking no pity, Amanda ripped the blankets back.

"Carlos?!" she exclaimed as she tossed the blankets off the bed to reveal the Latino laying there in nothing more than his boxers. Suddenly aware, Amanda looked down, relieved to see a large t-shirt covering her own frame.

Carlos lifted his head to blearily look at her. "Once again, could you dial back on the volume?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. His eyes were unfocused; clearly he hadn't grasped what had happened.

Amanda sat there, eyes still wide as she waited for it to hit him. A few moments later, Carlos' head shot up and he stared at her.

"Amanda?!" he said, shock in his voice. He sat up and faced her. "What the hell happened? Why am I in your room?"

"The hell if I know!" she replied. They both almost immediately winced at her tone, hands going to their heads. Carlos held his other hand up to stop her from speaking.

"Hold on," he said, getting off the bed and heading towards the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later, holding two steaming mugs of coffee. He handed one to Amanda before slowly sitting down in a chair across from the bed. Amanda reached over, grabbed her purse and pulled out a bottle of Advil. She poured out a few, tossing two to Carlos then downing two herself.

"We didn't...you know...?" Amanda questioned hesitantly. Carlos shook his head.

"I don't think so."

They sat there in silence for a few moments, taking sips of their coffee, trying to figure out what happened. Finally, Carlos spoke.

"Can you remember _anything_ from last night?" he asked her, breaking the silence.

Amanda sat there, her eyes closed as she tried to rack her brain for any clue. "I remember you convincing me to have a drink with you…"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah. I remember going to the bar. We must've had more than a few drinks."

She closed her eyes again, images flooding in in a fuzzy haze. She remembered getting the initial drink with him. And finding herself pleasantly surprised at enjoying his company. They had talked, about her job, his job, their families, what they loved about Vegas and other things. Before she knew it, they were on their fourth round.

At that point, things started to get blurry. Amanda shook her head slowly as she opened her eyes to look at him.

"All I can remember is having multiple rounds and talking about walking up the…," she trailed off as she caught a glimpse of something shiny on Carlos' hand. Her eyes widened. "What's that on your hand?" she almost whispered.

Carlos frowned up at her in confusion. He glanced down, his own eyes widening. "Shit," he muttered as he stared at the glint of gold on his left ring finger. Realization registering on his face, he looked at Amanda's hand. "What's that on yours?"

Amanda's heart sunk as she hesitantly looked down at her own left hand. A matching gold ring encircled her ring finger. She held her hand up, mouth opening in shock. "Oh fuck," she said finally. Her eyes met Carlos'. "You don't think they're real, do you?"

Resigned, Carlos shrugged and gave a slight nod. "I don't think they do fake marriages. It's Vegas, the city known for drunken marriages."

She let out a huge groan. "I got married in Vegas. I got fucking married in Las Vegas!" Amanda set her mug down on the night stand and flopped back on the bed. "You have got to be kidding me! I've done some stupid shit before, but this takes the damn cake!"

"You're panicking," Carlos said. Amanda lifted her head to stare at him.

"Damn straight I am. Won't you join me?" she asked sarcastically. "You of all people should be panicking. You're a famous pop star and you got drunkenly married to a girl you barely know!"

"Yeah well, I figure one of us should be relatively calm about this," he responded, giving her a slight grin. "But seriously. All we've got to do is get an annulment. Until then, we keep it quiet. Stay low. I'll look into seeing a judge this afternoon. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?"

Carlos threw her another grin as he tossed on a shirt and walked out of the room, pulling out his phone to make a few calls.

Amanda was left sitting there, staring at the door he had disappeared through. After a few moments, she broke out into giggles at the ridiculousness of the situation. She had gotten drunk in Vegas; nothing new. But on top of that, she had somehow ended up married to Carlos Garcia, famous pop star and actor. Well, she could do much worse, she thought to herself with a shrug.

Pulling out her phone, she snapped a quick picture of her ring and sent it to Cassie with the caption, "Surprise!". The only thing Amanda was disappointed about what not being there to see her sister's reaction.

Sure enough, a few minutes later her phone started to ring. Smirking, she answered it.

"Mrs. Garcia, how may I help you?" she answered sweetly.

"YOU GOT MARRIED?!" Cassie's voice exploded. Amanda held the phone away from her ear, laughing despite the shrill tone of her sister's voice. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"Obviously we weren't thinking. We'd had a few too many drinks for that to be a factor," Amanda responded.

"Oh ha ha, Manda. Who did you get married to? Some complete stranger?"

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "Didn't you hear my greeting? I'm the new Mrs. Carlos Garcia."

Amanda's declaration was met with silence. Expecting it, she held her phone away from her ear once more before Cassie exploded.

"YOU MARRIED CARLOS?!"

* * *

"Now remember, just let me do the talking," Carlos said as they walked up to the judge's quarters the next morning. Amanda rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes oh loving husband," she responded sarcastically. "You know, I'm perfectly capable of speaking on my own behalf."

"I know. But I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. So let me do the explaining. All you have to do is agree to the annulment."

Amanda was sorely tempted to hit Carlos. "You were much more charming before you made an honest woman out of me, back when you had to work for it. Marriage turns you into a jerk."

Carlos ignored her as they walked up to the door. "Just try not to insult the judge, okay?" She motioned as if she was zipping her lips closed.

"I'll just stand quietly next to you like a good little wife."

He couldn't help himself; Carlos laughed at her. "You're really something, Manda," he said as they walked through the door.

The judge was sitting at his desk, looking through documents. He looked up briefly as they approached his desk.

"Ah, my 10 o'clock. Please, be seated. Now you're here for…"

"An annulment, your Honor," Carlos supplied. The judge looked back down at the papers in front of him, nodding slightly.

"Carlos Garcia and Amanda Winchester…," he said, trailing off. Suddenly he looked up at the couple, gazing at Amanda. His eyes narrowed before he grinned, almost evilly. "Ohhhh it's you," he said.

Carlos' head whipped around to stare at Amanda as well. She sat there, confused.

"I'm sorry. Do we know each other….oh," she responded, recognition lighting her eyes as she glanced at his name plate. Amanda let out a breath. "Well fuck me sideways."


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Whoaaa can't believe it took me over a week to do this. *wince* I'm sorry y'all! Things have just been...crazy. I didn't realize JUST how much extra time I'd have to put in for taking on a few more responsibilities with my kids. Hopefully though things will start to slow down and even out some. I hate that I'm not updating as much. :(**

**THANK YOU to all of y'all who read and review! It means a TON to me that y'all take the time out to leave me a comment. :)**

**SuperSillyStories**** - YES. You about to screw yourselves over with this judge! Lmao. Groping Carlos? Alright then. We can totally do that. Lol. And I effing loved doing those comments. I think crap like that ALL the time...I just never say it aloud. Lmao.  
****ValentineZombie -**** Getting hitched to Carlos? Oh yeah, I'd say Manda did a bang up job there! LOL. Oh don't worry, you'll see Carlos finally lose it over this whole thing soon. :P And hmmm...she did get in trouble in Vegas before. You might be on to something there...  
****Guest -**** Yes! Drinks in Vegas...had to lead to something crazy, right? :P And I promise, I won't just give up on my stories! I couldn't do that; it would drive me nuts! :)  
****Emy . Elle -**** Ohhh the Rushers will come in to play fairly soon. ;) And nope...Manda didn't sleep WITH the judge...I'll just let you discover that for yourself.  
****Tokala -**** Oh hell yeah it will! Media's gonna go crazy over this one! Lol.  
****Thesandbar -**** Awww yay! Thank you! I'll tell you, I'm having fun writing this one. It's different than what I normally do, so I'm entertained at least. :D  
****BatGirlHenderson -**** Yep, they got hitched! You'll find out who the judge is this chapter! **

* * *

"I'm sorry. Do we know each other….oh," she responded, recognition lighting her eyes as she glanced at his name plate. Amanda let out a breath. "Well fuck me sideways."

There was a moment of silence, the two staring at each other; Amanda with wide eyes, the judge with a sinister gleam in his. Carlos looked back and forth between them, confusion furrowing his brows. Finally, he spoke.

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?" he asked. Amanda glanced over at him.

"Remember that trouble that I mentioned from the last time I came to Vegas?" Carlos nodded at her, still not understanding. "Well…," she was interrupted by the judge, causing her to let out a small growl.

"Ms. Winchester here happened to enter an affair with my brother while he was here for a conference. My engaged brother."

Carlos' eyes widened at Amanda. She opened her mouth to reply, but the judge was quicker, causing her to growl.

"Instead of taking responsibility, Ms. Winchester decided to physically assault my brother. With a golf club."

"Asshole had it coming!" she retorted, her dark eyes flashing in anger at the man sitting across from them. Carlos choked back a laugh.

"You almost castrated him!"

"Bet he'll think twice before being a low life scum who cheats on his fiance, won't he?" came her snarky response.

Before he could retort, Carlos held up his hands and interrupted. "Okay. So you guys know each other. Great. But we're not here to talk about what unfortunate incidents occurred before. Can we please get back to the business at hand? Or should we see about getting another judge due to conflict of interest?" Carlos asked, eyebrows raised. He glared at Amanda, willing her to keep her mouth shut. Instead of speaking, she just rolled her eyes and flipped him off. Carlos couldn't help but let out a small groan at that.

The judge, on the other hand, had taken a few deep breaths before studying the couple in front of him.

"Oh no. There's no need for that. I think we can keep things strictly professional, don't you?" he asked. Amanda saw the malicious gleam in his eye and shook her head.

"Hell no! I see that look you're giving me. You're going to screw me over because of what happened with your brother!"

"Amanda…," Carlos warned.

"Ms. Winchester…"

"Nope. I'm not gonna stand for that shit. Come on, Carlos, we're leaving." Amanda stood up to leave, but the judge's voice stopped her.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Winchester, you have no say in the matter. I'm the judge assigned to your case unless I choose to resign from it myself. And I can promise you, I won't. In fact, I've already decided."

The couple stared at him, uncertainty written on their faces. "Decided what exactly?" Carlos asked hesitantly.

"Based on what I've seen, I've decided to deny your request for an annulment."

At that, both Amanda and Carlos blew up at him.

"What?! You haven't heard either of our sides of the story!" Carlos protested, his eyes wide with panic.

"You idiotic asshole! You're just the same as your brother. A giant douche!" Amanda exploded, her own eyes filled with rage.

"This was just a drunken mistake, one that we're trying to fix," Carlos tried, once more. The judge just smiled sinisterly at them.

"Oh I'm sure that it was the result of a drunken night. But it's clear to me that Ms. Winchester in particular needs to learn to take responsibility for her mistakes." Amanda let out another growl and made to attack him, but Carlos' arm stopped her. The judge continued on. "Furthermore, in addition to denying your request for an annulment, I'm mandating that the two of you live and act as a married couple for the next nine months."

"HELL NO!"

Before she could leap over the desk, Carlos grabbed her around the waist and physically held her back. Once he got her trapped in a chair, he turned to face the judge.

"There's no way you can do that," he sputtered at him. "We live in different states. I've got an album that I'm working on. I _can't_ be married," he pleaded.

"Oh I can. And I am doing it," the judge responded, a twisted look on his face. "If you violate the terms, Ms. Winchester here will be required to pay a fee of $25,000."

"That's not legal!" she shouted at him from behind Carlos.

"I assure you that it is. My ruling is final. You may exit my chambers. Oh, and congratulations on your marriage," he responded with a sick grin.

Carlos pulled a swearing Amanda out of the room, dragging her all of the way outside.

"There's no way that this is legal! He can't do this to us," she yelled in front of the courthouse, pacing madly. Carlos sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Unfortunately, I have a feeling that it's completely within his rights to do so. Still, I'll contact my lawyer and see if we can't get an appeal. Or get his ruling just thrown out."

Amanda stopped pacing to stare at him. "How in the hell can you be so calm about this?!"

"I'm not, okay?" he yelled back. "I'm flipping the fuck out right now! You think I'm happy about this?" he asked. "I've got my first solo album coming out this year. I've got management to worry about, plus all my fans. Oh shit. They're going to have a fucking field day with this," he said on a sarcastic laugh.

Oddly, seeing Carlos panic calmed Amanda down. She took a deep breath, trying to control her anger. After a few moments, she spoke.

"Okay. So basically we're both screwed, you more so than me admittedly. Unless your lawyer can figure something out?" He nodded at her. "Great. Let's go talk to your fancy schmancy lawyer."

* * *

The phone ringing had Kate jumping. She had just lain Naomi down for a nap, so she raced to pick up the device before it could wake the infant. Catching sight of the caller id, she grinned in satisfaction.

"Carlos," she started.

"Ah…Katie," he said, almost hesitantly. "I was hoping to catch James."

"He's shooting today."

"Oh well I'll just call back later…"

"Carlos Garcia! Don't you dare hang up that phone," she threatened. "I've been waiting since yesterday morning when James told me about the drunken voice mails you left him. James made me promise not to call and yell at you, but since _you_ called _me_, it doesn't count. What the hell were you thinking?!"

Carlos winced, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. He paced around his hotel room, phone cradled on his shoulder.

"Um…I wasn't?"

"Well that much is clear! I can't _believe_ you got married! In Vegas! Were you able to get the annulment this morning?"

"Hah. About that…," he trailed off. Kate's eyes narrowed at his tone.

"Oh no. What happened? You _were_ able to get an annulment, right?"

"Not exactly. Turns out Amanda knew the judge, or rather, knew his brother. Apparently they didn't end too well. The judge had it out for her, so he denied our request for an annulment." When Kate started swearing, he couldn't help it, he grinned.

"That asshole! Can't you cite conflict of interest and get a different judge?" she asked.

"He gave out a ruling before we could leave. On top of denying our request, he's making us live together as a married couple for nine months. If we don't, Amanda will have to pay a fine of $25,000."

Kate started swearing again. "Did you call your lawyer?"

"Yeah. The moment we got back to the hotel, I called him. We can't throw out the judge's ruling. And ignoring it would result in more than just the fine. There's possible jail time."

"What about an appeal?"

"An appeal is going to take about as long as the nine months. So basically…"

"You're screwed," Kate finished for him.

"Exactly."

"Damn it. What about your career, Carlos? And the fans. Oh my word, the fans are going to flip their shit over this," she said, worry in her voice. Carlos chuckled at her concern.

"I know. I think I've got a plan for that."

"Oh really? How does Amanda feel about all of this?"

Carlos glanced to the door of his room, as if he could see up into the room of his wife. Shit. That was going to take some time to get used to.

"Well. After we heard back from the lawyer, she threw some of her stuff around, but managed to not break anything. So I'm taking that as a good sign."

* * *

A few hours later, Carlos hesitantly entered Amanda's suite. He was surprised to see everything in order, nothing broken or strewn around the room. In fact, all her suitcases were neatly packed, sitting by the door ready to go. He found Amanda laying face down on the bed.

"Manda?" he said quietly. She lifted her head to look at him.

"Oh great. It's my wonderful husband, Romeo," she said sarcastically.

Carlos sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Look. We're both stuck in this shitty situation. Might as well make the best of it."

Amanda sat up, staring at him. "Make the best of it?! How in the hell are we supposed to make the best of this? We barely know each other, yet we're married and sentenced to live together like a normal married couple for nine months. You're some famous pop star and I've got my catering business. This is bound to end in disaster."

He nodded, acknowledging her point.

"Yeah. Actually, I had something I wanted to run by you."

Amanda raised an eyebrow at him. "This sounds promising…"

"As you said, I've got a music career. I'm in the public eye. Once this," he gestured between them. "Gets out, it's going to screw me over. My management and fans are going to go batshit. I can't afford for that to happen right as I'm about to launch my solo career."

She looked at him, confusion on her face.

"Yeah. I'm sorry that our drunk selves thought it'd be a great idea to get hitched right now. But we've already established that there's nothing we can do about it."

"It's true. We can't do anything about the judge's ruling. But we _can _do something about the perception of the public."

"I don't follow…," Amanda trailed off, puzzlement still on her face.

"What I'm saying is that this story is going to get out regardless. But we can put our own spin on it." At her blank look, Carlos continued on. "A drunken marriage in Vegas attracts a lot of bad press, along with a lot of pissed off fans. But if we spin it as a _real_ marriage, almost like an elopement, we can get spared a lot of that bad press."

She sat there for a few moments, processing what he had said. "Let me get this straight. You want us to sell the story that what? We knew each other before and basically eloped?"

Carlos nodded at her. Amanda started laughing.

"That's insane. Who's going to buy that?"

"Considering you're friends with Emily, who's involved with Logan and has known him since childhood, it's not too far fetched to believe that we could've met before." She looked at him skeptically. "All we have to do is sell the whirlwind romance aspect of it. Give a few interviews, look like we're happy together and we're good."

"You do know who you're talking to, right? You want me to pretend that I'm some happily in love newlywed?"

Carlos let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I know it's asking a lot of you. But we're both stuck married to each other for nine months. I know that you have nothing to do with my career and you have no reason to go along with this. But my career and my fans mean everything to me. So please, Manda. It's just nine months."

Amanda sat there, staring at him silently, pondering over his words. It was true, she had no stake in this fake relationship. But they were stuck with each other, or else she was out 25 grand and faced with possible jail time. What could it hurt to play at being an actual newlywed?

"Fine. But don't expect me to act like a good little housewife. That shit's not happening," she threatened. Carlos grinned at her, pulling her into a huge bear hug.

"Agreed. Thank you, Manda!"

The feel of his muscled arms wrapped tightly around her caused her heart to flutter unexpectedly. She breathed in his scent, her head starting to cloud over. Quickly, she pulled out of his arms and shook herself out of it.

"Well, Mr. Garcia. I guess we'd better start working on our love story."


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: So I've been super distracted. First 24/seven...AHHHHH. I got it Monday afternoon in the mail and I've just been having a continuous dance party! Then there's all the pics of the guys from the signings and just...GAH. Y'all know I've got insane James feels normally...but they're like so damn overwhelming right now. I'm pretty sure they've broken me. Kate is officially broken.**

**So there's my reasoning for this coming out so late...and why it's not that great. I'M DISTRACTED. BUT I GREATLY appreciate y'alls patience with me! And the fact that you've stuck with me! And THANK YOU for reviewing! It means a TON to me! :)**

**SuperSillyStories -**** BAHAHAHA. You make my day Panda. And YAY fake romance! You just KNOW something's bound to happen between you two... ;)  
****Emy . Elle -**** Nope, no sleeping with the judge, just the brother! Lol. And you're totally right. Carlos has NO idea what's in store for him with Manda.  
****Guest**** - Bahahaha. Imagine if Kate had been there in person! She would've seriously gone nuts on him! :P And ohhh these nine months are going to be FULL of craziness!  
****Thesandbar -**** Dude, that judge was a total jerk! But I'm glad you like where this is heading! :D  
****ValentineZombie -**** Oh man. If Carlos hadn't been there...that judge would've been close to dead. And Manda would totally be in jail for attempted murder! LOL. And you are SO right. Fake romances are NEVER just simple things! :D  
****Tokala -**** Oh yeah, she has no idea what it's like to be in the spotlight! Lol. And hmmm...you never know! They could almost kill each other by the end. :P **

* * *

"You're on in five."

Amanda and Carlos glanced up at the production assistant of the morning talk show. It had been a few weeks since they had gotten hitched in Vegas. Carlos had returned to L.A. a few days after the failed annulment, Amanda following a week later after settling things back home.

After settling into Carlos' home, he had his management put out the story that he was married. Together, the two of them had gone over every detail, intent on making sure their stories were straight. The media went crazy. Amanda found her face on every tabloid and plastered all over the internet.

Carlos' fans had, as predicted, flipped. It was almost like their entire fandom collapsed. Suddenly Amanda was a target of hate. Initially Carlos had been worried for Amanda, but he soon found that she was a force to be reckoned with. Occasionally she'd let out a pithy remark at some of the hate, but most of the times she'd just brush it off.

When they could put it off no more, they decided to finally make an appearance together. Amanda was all for a public outing to some restaurant or something. Carlos, on the other hand, had a different idea. He insisted on doing a joint interview. Her eyes had widened at him when he brought it up, panic setting in. She knew that public appearances were part of the deal. But an interview on national television? Hell no!

It took quite a bit of persuasion, plus an entire canister of gummy bears before she finally conceded. But as they stood there, getting ready to head out onto that stage, Amanda was starting to regret that decision. Carlos looked over at her apprehensive face and gave a small smile of encouragement.

"It'll be okay, Manda," he said to her quietly. She just gave him a small nod, not really listening. "All you have to do is smile, pretend to be madly in love and follow my lead."

They could hear the talk show host as she gave their introductions. Carlos took Amanda's hand in his own, pulling her to the side of the stage. He gave it a quick squeeze and grinned at her. "We've got this," he said right as the host said their names. As the studio audience clapped, the couple made their way onto the stage.

Amanda plastered a smile on her face, trying to hide her nerves. As they reached they center of the set, they greeted the perky blonde host before sitting down. Carlos casually draped an arm around her shoulders. She struggled to not jump as his arm pulled her closer. Remembering her part, she leaned into him, surprise that it felt almost natural.

"Well, aren't you two just adorably cute!" the host giggled out, causing another round of applause from the audience. Carlos laughed along, nodding.

"We try, Sadie," he replied, a grin on his face.

"It's so great to have the both of you here," she started off.

"We're glad to be here. Thanks for having us." Amanda rolled her eyes inwardly at the fake politeness. Hollywood would never make sense to her.

"This is your first public interview together, am I right?"

_"Well no shit you idiot. Stop trying to brag underhandedly," _Amanda thought to herself. She matched the overly large smile on Sadie's face and nodded along with Carlos.

"Uh yeah. This is," he replied. Sadie looked at them expectantly. Both of them could see her trying to keep it all in, as if she was just bursting at the seams to grill them.

"So….," she said, dragging it out. "I know we've all read about it, but I want to hear straight from the source. How did all of this happen? One minute you're a single, eligible bachelor; next thing we know, you're married! Are you sure it wasn't the result of a drunken night?" she asked, a gleam in her eyes.

Amanda couldn't help it, she let out a snort. Carlos glanced at her, a slight warning in his dark eyes. She quickly corrected her face.

"No, I can promise you it wasn't," Carlos replied. Sadie's face fell slightly, yet she kept her ever present smile.

"Oh come on. You got married in Las Vegas! You're telling me that Elvis wasn't even present?" she asked, a teasing tone in her voice. At that, Amanda finally spoke up.

"I can personally assure you that Elvis was no where in sight," she said. Sadie let out a thin laugh. Amanda shuddered slightly at the sound, causing Carlos to tighten his hold on her briefly. Glancing at her again, they both joined in on the laughter, trying to make a joke out of it.

"Okay. So no Elvis. But seriously. Tell us how you two met!"

"We met through a mutual acquaintance," Carlos said. The couple had decided to leave both Logan's and Emily's names out of it. They had just restarted their relationship and neither of them wanted to drag them along with their daughter, Hannah, into the spotlight so quickly. "I saw her across the room and was instantly entranced," he said, turning to look at her. A small smile played at the edges of his mouth. Her heart stuttered in her chest at his look. His fingers giving her arm a quick harsh squeeze reminded her of where she was. Catching on, she nodded and continued on for him.

"I had no idea who he was. I just thought he was a hottie with muscles." This earned her a laugh from the audience. Carlos grinned and flexed a bicep for them. Amanda rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. Sadie seemed to be thrilled by this interaction.

"So love at first sight?" she asked. The couple turned back to her, nodding.

"You could say that," Carlos supplied. Sadie smiled largely at them.

"That's so sweet! Now get to the good part. The public had no idea that you were even seeing each other. Forgive me for saying this, but Carlos you've been fairly public with you're past relationships. Why the secrecy this time?"

Carlos took a moment to think over his answer, glancing back once more at Amanda. "Well, I guess she was just different," he said softly, eliciting an "awww" sound from the crowd. Amanda's heart continued to flip flop, despite knowing that it was just an act. She swore inwardly, trying to shake herself out of it.

"So now the big question. What made you two decide to get married so quickly?" Sadie urged them on. Amanda was the one to step up and answer this time.

"We both met up in Vegas and decided to make a little bet. So we flipped a coin on it," she said with a completely serious face. Sadie glanced uncertainly at them. Carlos started laughing at Amanda's little ad lib. He should've known that she wouldn't stick completely to their story.

"That's not completely true," he corrected. "Manda here likes to mess with others."

Sadie started laughing. Amanda could have sworn her eye started to twitch. If that woman laughed one more time, she was certain that she couldn't be held accountable for her actions. Carlos continued on, keeping his grip tight on her. How in the hell did he know when she was ready to attack?

"You know, I think we both knew that this was it for us. We had talked briefly about marriage before. We figured, what the hell, we were in Vegas. Why not go ahead and get married there? Neither of us were too keen on the idea of a big wedding. So it was perfect for us."

"It was great. No pressure, no one else but us," Amanda added.

"You mean none of your former band mates, not even your family?" Sadie asked in wonder.

"Unfortunately, no. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision for us," Carlos replied, trying to bite back a grin. Amanda laughed quietly.

"Well, speaking of your band mates, what's in store for the future? What can we expect from the members of Big Time Rush?"

Amanda let out a sigh of relief at the change of subject. Carlos took over, relaxing his grip on her.

"You know, we're all kind of doing our own thing right now. Just trying to figure out what we want. I'm recording my own solo album, which will be released sometime later this year." He paused for the ensuing applause, grinning at them. Amanda couldn't help it, she matched his grin.

"So is this the end of Big Time Rush?"

"No. Definitely not. Maybe in a couple of years we'll put out another album. But right now we're just focusing on our own careers."


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note: So even though I am RIDICULOUS exhausted from my crazy week at work so far (I'm not even going to into how many injuries I've sustained so far...except TODAY I FELL IN A DUMPSTER INTO BROKEN GLASS AND I WISH I WAS KIDDING BUT I'M NOT), I was DETERMINED to get this out tonight. SO HERE YOU GO!**

**Also, be on the lookout. Hopefully in the next week I'll have another one shot out. For those who wanted to know what happens with Emily and Logan, well...you'll get your wish. Everyone will be involved in this. :)**

**Once again, a HUGE thank you to EVERYONE who reads and reviews! Your comments make my day! Seriously, I am NOT a morning person, so waking up to those notifications make the morning actually bearable.**

**SuperSillyStories**** - I KNOW. CLOWNS ARE TERRIFYING. And LOL I'm glad someone caught that their 'story' was somewhat true! Lmaoooo you'll be all over Carlos soon enough! PATIENCE PANDA.  
****Emy . Elle -**** Bahahaha, well she sort of behaved. Well...more than normal. LOL. And OF COURSE I'M NOT BREAKING THEM UP. At least not forever!  
****Thesandbar -**** LMAO. You are totally not a mental person! Because I do that too! Well, Carlos is kinda crazy himself, so I think he's got some sort of sixth sense on when someone's about to go nuts. LOL.  
****Grayhap - ****Yes! Amanda definitely needs someone there to keep her sane. Why not a sexy latino? ;)  
****Tokala -**** Oh yeaaaah it's just the beginning! Neither of them know what's going to hit them!  
****BigTimeStarWars - ****LOL. That's fabulous! I tend to think along the same lines as her...I just don't always act out on them. Lol.  
****ValentineZombie -**** Pffft...what would make you think that things wouldn't go smoothly? :P Oh I can guarantee you it won't take long for them to snap. LOL.  
****Guest - ****Oh yeaaah. The other guys will show up more in this one, especially since they all (except Logan) are in L.A. And there'll be a big group scene in this too at some point...because I can't help it. :P And thank you for the compliments! *blushes*  
****Carlos'sCupcake - ****LOL. Hey! It's totally okay, you needed a break! But all your reviews made me LOL. DUDE. I LOVE ROMANCE NOVELS (can you tell, LOL). I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts fan. You are SO not nerdy for that. And heck yes they'll be good for each other...it's just a matter of them figuring that out. LOL.**

* * *

After the interview, things seemed to calm down somewhat. Amanda was surprised. She thought for sure that the interview would cause another outbreak of insane media frenzy, not to mention another collapse in the fandom. But after the first few days, the initial media circus died down.

The two of them tried to get used to life together. As Amanda's catering business was a traveling one, she was able to operate it from L.A. With the threat of the judge looming over them, she limited the jobs she took that were out of state. Of course, she had no problem defying the judge, but Carlos somehow managed to be the voice of reason. So instead of taking week long jobs out of state, one right after the other, she opted for shorter and closer ones.

Carlos, on the other hand, was constantly busy recording and editing his album. It being his first solo venture into the music world, he was dead set on it being perfect. Truthfully, Amanda was grateful that he was busy. It saved her from having to watch her step around him.

She wasn't used to this. Men were easy to her. She knew how to handle them, how to deal with the jerks. But much to her surprise, Carlos wasn't a jerk. In fact, he was the complete opposite. And that worried her.

It wasn't like she knew a lot about Carlos to begin with. He was some big pop star; she thought that fact automatically made him conceited and arrogant. But he wasn't. Amanda hadn't expected him to be quite so…charming.

He was crazy. And incredibly intense. Kate had been right when she had told her that Carlos was intense about the things he was passionate about. His career meant a lot to him, and the amount of work he put into it reflected that. Whenever he was home, Amanda would occasionally stumble upon him working on a new track. His face would be scrunched up, eyebrows drawn together in concentration as he poured over what he had written. Amanda was sure that even if a bomb had gone off right next to him, he would have had no idea.

They had come to coexist together, treating the situation as if they were just roommates, temporary ones at that. There was no mention of the fact that they were legally bound together for life. As much as that should have made her happy, it didn't. For some reason, Amanda was kind of put off on that.

She was messing around in the kitchen, trying out a new idea for a recipe as she thought about it. When they were in Vegas, Carlos had put the moves on her left and right. He had even kissed her, right in front of her entire staff. It irritated her that now he just pretended like that never happened. Suddenly incensed, she slammed a few bowls down on the counter, not even registering the noise she was making.

When Carlos entered the kitchen, it was to see Amanda violently stirring some sort of mixture in one of his large mixing bowls. She was muttering something under her breath, a look of irritation painting her features. A grin appeared on Carlos' face as he watched her, fascinated. He had no idea what set her off, but at least he was entertained.

"Thinks he can just forget about me in that way? Oh hell no," she muttered quietly. "We're fucking married. Asshole _can't_ just forget about me."

"Any harder and you might break the bowl."

The sound of Carlos' voice had her screaming. Her head shot up to stare at him and the bowl flew out of her hands, sliding to the edge of the island. Carlos surged forward just in time to keep it from falling to the floor. Grinning, he placed it back on the counter and eyed her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked him when she finally regained her speech. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on someone like that?"

"I didn't really sneak up on you. I'm standing right in front of you. Not my fault you were too busy muttering to yourself and abusing my dishes to notice." He shrugged at her, his grin still in place. Amanda narrowed her eyes at him in warning.

"Listen here, Romeo….," she started, but Carlos' hand coming up interrupted her.

"Let's go out."

She stopped, looking at him in confusion. "Excuse me? Don't you think we're doing this a little backwards? We're already married, no need to ask me out."

Carlos laughed at her, shaking his head.

"Not what I meant." The butterflies that had started to make an appearance in her stomach were quickly squished. "I just need a break. Too much going on up here," he said, pointing to his head. "I'm starting to go crazy with the amount of ideas I've got."

"Okay…so why don't you just go for a walk or something to clear your head?"

He shrugged again. "I'd rather be doing something. So I figured why not take a break and head out for a bit. Come with me."

Amanda looked at his outstretched arm, considering. Carlos could see her debating internally so he continued on.

"Come on, Manda. It'd be a good opportunity for me to show off my sexy new wife," he stated, waggling his eyebrows. Amanda couldn't help it, she laughed at his expression and nodded.

"Fine. Let me just put this away."

"I'll go check on Sydney. Just put it away, don't try to clean up. We'll do that later."

Two hours later they were walking side by side along the beach, each with an ice cream cone in their hands. After arriving at the beach, Carlos had dived head first into the water, clothes and all. Amanda stood there, laughing at him behaving like a kid. Before she knew it, he had dragged in her behind him, completely drenching her. Shrieking insanely, she splashed around, commencing a war between the two of them. When they'd had enough, Carlos had pulled her out, immediately heading for an ice cream shack before deciding to walk along the sand. The sun had already set, leaving a few stars out twinkling in the night sky.

"You're okay right?" Carlos suddenly asked, breaking their silence. "Being here in L.A.?"

Amanda looked up at his face, the slight concern on it making her heart melt a little. Determined to not let that shine through, she just shrugged at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you know, it's been kind of unfair to you. We both made the mistake, yet you're the one being punished most. The possible fine, having to move out here because of my career. You aren't near your family or anything. I just…I wanted to make sure that you're doing okay."

The casual flip flop of her heart sped up at that. Relenting, she smiled softly up at him. "I'm fine. I travel so much for my job, not like I really see my family too much. And sure, I had to cut back on which jobs I take, but I've got plenty here in the area. Besides, it's L.A. It's another adventure on its own just being here."

Satisfied, Carlos nodded and turned back to his own ice cream. Casually, he brushed his free hand against hers and linked their fingers. Her head turned towards his, confusion in her face at the gesture.

"There's a paparazzi pretending to be a casual guy leaning up against the boardwalk railing up there," he said quietly, barely motioning with his head.

Amanda's eyes followed, seeing the man pretending to snap pictures of the ocean, when in reality he was carefully watching them. Her heart sunk, once again, with the knowledge that any form of intimacy between them was for show. As that thought popped in her head, she swore inwardly at herself.

Why did it bother her so much? It's not like she loved him or anything; not even close! This was so stupid. He had just gotten to her, that's all. Living in close quarters with a man that looked like Carlos was bound to make a girl frustrated, in more ways than one. But really, just look at those arms! It was impossible to _not_ notice them.

She was just frustrated, that's all. That was it. That _had_ to be it. They were _roommates_ for another seven months. Then after that, it'd be splitsville for the two of them. There was no need for them to bring feelings or emotions into it. It's not like they were married or anything. Oh wait…


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Note: Ahhhh! I'm horrible! It's been almost two weeks. *cringes* PLEASE DON'T HATE ME. Work has been INSANE. I've come home every day just exhausted. Hopefully things will get better in the next week so that I'll be able to update more frequently! But hey guys, guess what? I MEET/SEE BTR IN LIKE 5 DAYS. I might actually die.  
**

**HUGE THANK YOU to ALL of you readers, silent and not so silent! Thank you for reading, reviewing and putting up with my odd updating schedules! Even if I go over a week without updating, rest assured that I will NOT just give up. Can't do it. THANK YOU for sticking with me! If I could, I'd give each of you a large gift basket full of cookies! And lots of hugs! :)**

**On that note, skipping shout outs since I've got to get up SUPER early tomorrow. But once again, I LOVE ALL OF Y'ALL INSANELY! **

* * *

"So where's Kate at right now?"

James glanced over at Carlos as they stepped outside onto his deck. Fox followed behind, breaking out into a run the moment they stepped outside. James laughed slightly as they sat down, watching his dog run around the fenced in area.

"Naomi had a check up this morning, so Kate took her to that while I went in for a meeting with my agent. A couple scripts to go over," he answered at his friend's unspoken question. "Then she had to check on the store. You know her."

"Always likes to make sure everything's going okay. Yeah, I know," Carlos chuckled. "Did you find anything worthwhile?"

James shrugged casually, but there was a small spark in his eyes. "The usual. But there's this one role, a movie. Looks like it could be a huge blockbuster."

"You gonna go for it, man?" James took a sip of his drink before answering.

"I think I am. There's something different about this one. Like it's calling to me. You know?"

Carlos nodded at him, a small grin on his face. "Yeah. Kinda like when we all first started out." James returned his grin.

"Something like that, yeah."

They were silent for a few moments, watching the small dog run around the grassy area, pouncing occasionally before returning to the deck, laying down by James' feet. The sound of the door opening had them turning. Kate walked outside, a squirming child in her arms. She set the dark haired girl down, letting out a breath.

"Hey Kate," Carlos said in greeting to her. She gave him a tired smile.

"Everything okay babe?" James asked, hand catching hers. Kate leaned down and kissed him briefly.

"Yeah. Just tired. Naomi's checkup was not fun at all. She decided today would be the day to pitch a fit any time someone new came up to her." Kate rolled her eyes. "You can guess how many awful looks I got today. I know the other moms in there were just staring at me, judging and thinking about how awful of a mom I must be."

James laughed and pulled her down into his lap. "I'm sure they weren't."

"And even if they were, screw them. They're just jealous, Katie. Look at this gorgeous girl here," Carlos said, getting on the floor, arms open for Naomi to come crawling into. Giggling, she made her way over and collapsed into his lap. Leaning her head on James' shoulder, Kate smiled down at them.

"Yeah well. I think we're all a little biased there," she replied. Her eyes darted around before landing back on Carlos. "Where's Amanda at? She knows she's always welcome here, right?" Kate asked, a worried tone in her voice. Carlos gave her a reassuring smile.

"She knows. You've only called and told her it a million times," he teased. Kate narrowed her eyes at him. She opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by her husband.

"He's just messing with you, babe," James murmured in her ear, a smile clear in his voice.

"I know. But he knows better than to mess with me," she replied. James just laughed and squeezed her. "But really, Carlos. Where is she today?" she repeated, turning her attention back to the man sitting on the floor of the deck. Naomi was still sitting in his lap, now playing with Fox's ears. Carlos lifted his head to look at Kate.

"She had a catering job in San Diego. She'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"How're things going with her?" James asked. "I mean, it's kind of an odd situation."

Carlos snorted. "You're telling me. One minute we're flirting back and forth, next thing I know I'm married to her." He paused a moment. "But things are surprisingly okay." At James' raised eyebrow, Carlos continued on. "I thought that it would be awkward. I mean, we barely know each other yet here we are, forced to live as a married couple. But it hasn't been awkward at all."

Something in Carlos' voice had Kate sitting up straighter. "Do you have feelings for her?" she asked suddenly. Both James and Carlos stared at her.

"Kate," James whispered at her in warning. This time it was her turn to raise and eyebrow at him.

"What? It's just a simple question. Do you?" she asked pressed, turning back to Carlos. He shifted slightly, causing Naomi to move out of his lap and land right next to the small dog.

"It's not like that between us," he responded.

"That's not what I asked," Kate said, the beginnings of a small smirk on her face. "You were interested in her. You followed her from Texas to Las Vegas. You can't tell me you aren't attracted to her," she said, as if stating the facts. He nodded slowly.

"Well yeah. I mean, who wouldn't be? She's gorgeous. She's got a killer sense of humor and is not afraid to get up in my face. She speaks her mind and doesn't care. Plus she's got insane skills in the kitchen." Carlos trailed off at the matching grins on his friend's faces. "What?" he asked hesitantly.

"You've got feelings for her," Kate replied, her voice matching the grin on her face.

"What? No, no I don't," he started to protest.

"Dude. You totally do," James said, agreeing with his wife. Carlos looked between the two of them, unable to respond. "Well don't be an idiot about it; go after her and make it happen."

"I don't think either of you understand. This isn't a regular relationship. I'm _married_ to her," Carlos said, trying to convey that idea to his friends. They just continued to grin down at him. "We're in a fake relationship right now."

"So turn it into a real one."

"Not that simple. We're stuck with each other for another six months. Legally we can't leave. What if it doesn't work out and we piss each other off so much that we can't stand to be around each other? Can't take that chance."

Kate got off of James' lap to slap Carlos upside the head.

"You're an idiot if you don't take that chance," she said simply before picking up Naomi and walking into the house.

"She's right." Carlos met James' eyes. Before he could protest, James continued on. "You were attracted to her before all this happened. You can't tell me that those feelings just evaporated the moment you drunkenly made this legal," James pointed out.

Carlos sighed and nodded. "Fine. You're right. I have feelings for Amanda. But I can't act on them. It would just mess things up between us. And besides, Amanda doesn't feel that way. In six months we're going to get the divorce and go our separate ways."

"You sure about that man?" Carlos just nodded.

"It's for the best."

* * *

Amanda spent the drive back from San Diego thinking over her relationship, if you could call it that, with Carlos. Okay, maybe she did have feelings for him. She felt like someone should've been proud of her for at least admitting that to herself. But still, that didn't mean anything was going to happen.

As far as she knew, Carlos didn't return those feelings. He'd made that abundantly clear in the last three months. It still grated her that he'd gone from flirting like crazy to nothing. Apparently it was true that marriage made a relationship cool down.

Even as she thought it, she snorted to herself. Like this was anything close to a real marriage. They were just trapped, pretending in front of the cameras until their imprisonment was up. Then they'd be free of each other.

Only thing was, Amanda wasn't so sure she wanted to be free of Carlos.

"Stupid," she muttered to herself as she pulled into the driveway. She swore under her breath, trying to push away those thoughts. It wouldn't do to feel like this. It wasn't a real relationship. It wasn't even a relationship at all.

She walked into the house, accidentally slamming the door behind her. Amanda winced and drug her suitcase up the stairs to her bedroom. As she entered her bedroom, she realized that the house seemed a little too quiet. Carlos' car was there, yet she didn't hear him. Nor did Sydney run up to greet her.

Stepping over to the window she looked out into the backyard, her eyes widening at the sight in front of her. Anger rushed in, white hot through her veins.

"Carlos Garcia, you son of a bitch."


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note: I'm sorry this is coming out so late but GUUUUUUYYYYYS. I MET THEM AND HAD THE BEST DAY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. JAMES TOUCHED MY ASS DURING THE M&G AND HE TOTALLY SANG "AMAZING" (WHICH IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE EVER) TO ME. I DIED.  
**

**As always, a HUGE thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing! Y'all seriously make my day! *hugs***

**SuperSillyStories -****Bahahaha yessss Carlos likes you! He's just being dumb about it. And ohhhh yeaaaah he's about to get some crepes! Well...what he THINKS will be tampered crepes. :P  
****Thesandbar -**** Ahahaha! I'm sorry, but I can't help it! I love cliffhangers! They're both being idiots. Lol. But you'll find out what's pissed Amanda off!  
****Emy . Elle -**** LMAO. Hmmm...another woman? Maaaaayyyybeeeee! But I think you know that Manda is capable of exacting some pretty awesome revenge. =D  
****Grayhap - ****Ohhhh yeaaaah. Carlos is about to be in a WORLD of trouble! :D****  
ValentineZombie - ****LOL. Yeah they're both such idiots. I kinda wanna slap them upside the head because neither of them want to make the first move. And ohhh yesss! Carlos is about to be in a HELL of a lot of trouble! :D  
****Guest - ****I bet they'll eventually be able to work things out. ;) But ohhhh man. Just wait! Amanda's got a short temper on her and I don't think she'll wait for explanations. :D You'll see more between Amanda and Kate later on. :) And thank you! I'm trying to update more often!  
Tokala - Maaaan. I have no idea what it's going to take to make them admit they like each other. They're both stubborn idiots. LOL. And ohhh you're about to find out what he did! :D  
**

* * *

"Carlos Garcia, you son of a bitch."

Amanda glared out of the window at her husband who was currently lounging by the pool. A lanky brunette in a bikini sat on the chair next to him, a smile playing on her lips. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes, which Amanda was sure were focused on Carlos.

As for her most unfortunate husband, he was gazing at his little sunbathing partner, seemingly entranced. She said something, causing his head to tip back and a loud laugh to escape from his chest. The sound irritated Amanda more, anger flaring up once again. Turning sharply from the window, she stalked downstairs, prepared to blow up.

She was almost outside when another idea hit her. As much as she loved to cause a scene, she loved revenge even more. Especially when it was unexpected. A smirk on her face, she headed into the kitchen. It took a few minutes of shuffling around, but finally found the recipe book she was looking for. Not that she needed it; this particular little beauty was just for show. Something to mess with his head.

30 minutes later Amanda had the table all set, three place settings on the table. She was just getting ready to call her idiot husband when Carlos appeared in the doorway.

"Manda! I didn't even hear you come in. How was the – what's all this?" he broke off in question to the set table. Smiling sweetly she shrugged at him.

"Had a new cookbook and found a very interesting recipe, so I thought I'd try it out."

Carlos raised his eyebrows as he realized what was on the table. "Crepes?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Ever heard of breakfast for dinner?" He laughed and nodded.

"Let me go change and I'll be right back down."

As he started upstairs, Amanda glanced around, frowning. "Don't forget to invite your friend in," she said, waiting for his reaction. She was sorely disappointed when he didn't panic or even bother to turn around.

"Oh she just went home. Be down in a minute," he said and ran up the stairs.

Amanda felt a new surge of irritation. How was she supposed to punish the skank if she wasn't here? She snatched up the extra place setting and took it back in the kitchen. Oh well, she still had Carlos to deal with. Bastard even admitted to having another woman here. How dare he?!

Not like they were involved or anything. They were just in a forced marriage, only keeping up appearances of being in love to spare his career the backlash a drunken marriage would cause. For a moment, Amanda thought about forgetting her revenge. They weren't really in a relationship. But still, that didn't mean he could flaunt other women in her face. After all, it was _his_ idea to keep up the fake marriage charade. She was pretending to be madly in love with him for _his_ benefit.

If she couldn't go get some ass, then neither could he. Any feelings of doubt about revenge were squashed as she heard him come down the stairs.

They sat down to eat, Amanda exchanging meaningless pleasantries with him. Taken aback by her odd manner, Carlos just frowned slightly at her.

"Is there something wrong, Manda?" he asked her hesitantly. Amanda smiled sweetly at him, eyes innocent.

"Not at all," she replied. Something was off, but Carlos couldn't quite put his finger on it. Deciding to just let it be, he began to eat. "Looks like you were having a good time out there," she finally said, refusing to meet his eyes. "Too bad your little friend couldn't stay."

Carlos laughed. "Yeah. We spent most the afternoon together. I love spending time with her."

Amanda's grip on her fork tightened as she tried to control her anger. Seeing the way Carlos' eyes lit up at the mention of the skank caused a white hot flash of anger to fly up in her. Once again, she reminded herself that it wasn't jealousy she was feeling; it was just anger at his mistaken idea that he was allowed to flaunt other women in front her. She was his wife for fucks sake! …Not that it was legitimate, but it should count for something!

Before Carlos could catch on, Amanda made herself relax. She took a deep breath, eyes darting to the side to see the book she was planning to take him down with.

"So how was the event?"

At the sound of his voice, her head shot up, eyes meeting his. She shrugged at him. "It was fine. Everything went smoothly, which if it hadn't someone would be dead and I'd be in jail."

Carlos laughed. "I wouldn't expect less from you." He took another bite, groaning in appreciation. "Damn. I know it's your job and all, but these are really awesome." Amanda shot him a smirk, trying to restrain herself.

"I got a new cookbook while I was away. It's an…interesting book. So I decided to try out one of the recipes," she responded.

"Really? What's the book?"

Amanda's eyes lit up with glee when Carlos took the bait. Reaching down, she picked up the book next to her and set it on the table, pushing it towards him. Carlos stopped eating long enough to read the title.

"Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen Based Recipes…," he trailed off, eyes widening. He looked down at his plate before meeting Amanda's eyes. Taking in her satisfied smirk, he felt his stomach start to roll.

Amanda watched Carlos' reaction, delighting in his horrified expression. His face turned a sickly shade of green before he bolted out of the room. Sounds of retching confirmed that her plan worked. Laughing slightly to herself, she picked up the gag book and put it back on the shelf before sitting down and continuing to eat her own dinner.

"Yeah like I would really make creamy cum crepes," she laughed aloud to herself. "Idiot."

* * *

A little while later Amanda was interrupted from her reading by Carlos storming into her room.

"What the hell was that, Manda?" he demanded, his voice raised. She lifted an eyebrow at him in mock surprise.

"I don't know what you mean." Carlos cut her off.

"Bullshit. Why the hell did you make…_that?_" he asked, unable to voice it out loud. Amanda felt pride well up in her at his still slightly sick look at even the thought of it. "I thought things were going good. What in the hell did I do to piss you off?"

"Oh yeah, things were going swell," she responded sarcastically.

"What? You didn't think they were?" he asked, confusion on his face. "I know it's kind of awkward being married and all, but I thought we had worked that out. I thought everything was good."

Anger flowed through her veins once more. She stood up, stepping so she was toe to toe with him. "Oh I thought we had worked it out. Must be nice, huh, Romeo? Having a picture perfect marriage for the tabloids, all the while you've got a hot little piece of ass on the side."

If Carlos was confused before, it was nothing compared to what he felt now. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't act dumb, it doesn't suit you," Amanda retorted. She was truly incensed now with his idiot act. "You think you can play me like that, Romeo? Oh hell no. You've got another thing coming to you. We're fucking married, jackass. Real or not, you don't get to just flaunt around some skank in a barely there bikini like it's no big deal. You want some ass? Fine, but don't ask me to play along with this stupid little charade anymore! I'm done."

She tried to move past him, but Carlos blocked her, his hands gripping onto her arms as he struggled to catch up.

"Wait. You think I was with that girl down there?" he asked incredulously.

"I told you not to play dumb…" She was cut off once again, but this time it was by his laughter. Irritated, she tried to jerk out of his grasp but to no avail. "You didn't think it was so funny a few hours ago."

When Carlos could control himself, he finally answered.

"That girl who was here, that's my sister." Carlos saw the shock enter her eyes. He let go of her arms and took a step back.

"Your…sister?" she asked weakly. He nodded at her. "Well," was all she could say. Amanda sat down on the bed, unable to meet his gaze.

"So you fed me crepes made with…semen," Carlos said, shuddering. "All because you thought my sister was a skank?"

Amanda met his gaze, her expression sheepish. "If it makes you feel better, they weren't actually made with semen. I've never used that cookbook in my life. I only showed it to you to make you think I had."

Relief shone in Carlos' face before a contemplative look replaced it. Amanda raised an eyebrow at his look.

"What?"

"You were jealous," he said, amusement lacing his words. She shook her head violently at him.

"No. No I wasn't." At his smirk, she felt irritation seep into her again. "I was just pissed because I thought you were out trying to get laid while I was stuck pretending to be your faithful wife."

"You were jealous," he stated again.

"You're an asshole," she said, standing up to walk out the door. Before she could make it, she felt a hand on her arm. Carlos spun her around to face him, pulling their bodies closer together. Amanda's eyes were wide as she stared into his own dark ones, his expression unreadable. Before she could say anything, Carlos' mouth came down fiercely onto hers.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Whaaaat? A second update in under a week? HECK YES. **

**Skipping shout outs tonight because it hasn't been the easiest week. I'm about to take one TWO more jobs on top of the two I already have. Sometimes I think I must be crazy.**

**But THANK YOU to everyone who reads! I appreciate each and every one of you SO incredibly much! *hugs***

* * *

Amanda woke up the next morning feeling disoriented, yet oddly sated. Her limbs felt loose. Stretching slightly she sat up. Alarm filled her when the sheet fell down to reveal her naked chest. Hesitantly she turned to see Carlos laying next to her, stirring slightly. Amanda groaned and pulled the sheet up, causing Carlos' eyes to open. When they focused in on her, she spoke.

"We have got to stop ending up like this."

He blinked a few times before sitting up and staring at her. His eyes strayed down to the sheet covering her.

"You're…"

"Naked?" she supplied. "Yeah. And I'm willing to bet you are too."

Carlos peeked under the blanket and nodded back at her. "We slept together," he stated.

"The evidence is pretty damning. But yeah. You just kinda attacked me last night."

"Hey, I didn't hear you complaining," Carlos protested. Amanda shrugged nonchalantly.

"It wasn't bad."

Carlos narrowed his eyes at her. "Wasn't bad?" he asked lowly. Amanda bit back a grin at his tone and affronted look. She shrugged once more, trying to look careless.

"I mean, I've had worse…" She was cut off by the feel of Carlos' lips on her own. He lunged over and pinned her on the bed, his muscular body covering every inch of hers.

* * *

"I stand, or rather I lay here bonelessly, corrected," Amanda said breathlessly.

They were strewn across the bed, the sheet balled up, forgotten on the floor. A laugh rumbled in Carlos' chest. He propped himself up to look down at Amanda. There was laugh in her eyes that had his narrowing once more at her. "You were messing with me, weren't you? Just trying to get me riled up?"

She smirked at him and propped herself up on her elbow to face him. "I'll never tell."

"You know it's not nice to tease," he said.

"Got you where I wanted, didn't I?" she retorted. "Besides, I don't hear you complaining," she repeated. Carlos couldn't help it, he laughed.

"You're a piece of work, Manda," he said to her, still laughing. Amanda raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not."

"Let's just say I'm not complaining," he replied softly.

Amanda's heart fluttered at the look he gave her. It felt like his eyes were boring into her, seeing past her naked form into her mind. Quickly she shook her head and tried to calm her heart.

"So um…we should talk. About this," she said, somewhat flustered while gesturing between the two of them. Carlos frowned at her. Taking it as a negative sign, Amanda pressed on before he could. "Because, I um…I don't want this to ruin what we've got now. Our friendship. And awkward marriage," she finished lamely.

Carlos nodded slowly, unsure.

"Right…," he trailed off.

"Not that it wasn't great," she hurried on.

"So why don't we keep on with it?" Carlos interjected.

Amanda looked up sharply at him, surprise etched on her face. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, look. We're both stuck in this marriage for another five months. We've got to keep up appearances. Might as well make the most of it. Like a friends with benefits type thing."

"Oh. Right." For a moment Carlos could've sworn he saw disappointment in her face. But just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. "Yeah, that makes sense. Fuck buddies it is."

Carlos laughed again. "Crude, but yes. Fuck buddies."

Pushing her feelings aside, Amanda raised an eyebrow at him. "Care to make it official?"

* * *

"You slept together, didn't you?"

Amanda looked up at Kate, shock on her face. "What?" Kate raised an eyebrow at her.

"You slept together," she repeated. "Don't think I don't recognize that just had sex look. You and Carlos finally did the nasty." There was a grin on her face that had Amanda cracking.

"Fine." She raised her hands in submission. "I slept with Carlos. We totally sexed it up. A lot. All over the place if you must know."

Kate laughed. "Alright, alright. I don't need all the details. But seriously, how did this happen?" Amanda shrugged at her.

"Well, I may have messed with his head a bit. But it was only right! He pissed me off."

"Do I want to know?" Kate asked her, an apprehensive look on her face. Amanda gave her a regarding stare and shook her head.

"You probably don't."

"I'll take your word on that. Continue."

"When he found out that I was just messing with him, _he_ got pissed. Then he had the nerve to call me jealous, which pissed me off again because damn it, I'm not jealous! I don't get jealous," she muttered, crossing her arms petulantly like a child.

Kate wisely bit back a grin at that and nodded. Sounded like someone was jealous to her. But she knew that Manda had quite a temper, so she stayed quiet.

"I tried to leave, but he just grabbed me and kissed me. I was pissed, but it was kinda hot. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to a very naked Carlos. Not a bad sight to wake up to," she mused.

Once again, Kate laughed. "I bet." She took a sip of her tea and regarded Amanda over the rim. "So where does that leave you two?"

"We've decided to keep things simple. Friends with benefits," she replied. Kate raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Let me get this straight. You're legally married to him, yet instead of acting on the feelings you have for each other – don't even deny it," she ordered before Amanda could protest. "Instead of being normal adults, you're just going to push aside those feelings and be friends with benefits? _That's_ your idea of keeping it simple?"

Amanda returned Kate's arched look with a sheepish gaze of her own. "Hey, it's been working for the past few days. I think it's safe to say it'll be okay." Kate rolled her eyes at her.

"Manda, friends with benefits never ends well in normal circumstances. Y'all are _married_. This is ridiculous."

"No. No it's not. We're keeping things platonic…in a sexual way." She grinned at Kate's impatient stare. "What I mean is, things are okay the way they are. We've still got five months left of marital bliss. Why ruin that by trying to start a possibly doomed relationship?"

"How do you know it's doomed?" she questioned.

"How could it _not_ be? We got married drunkenly in Vegas after only knowing each other for barely even two weeks. Now we're stuck living together because an asshole judge made us. That's not a normal starting point for a successful relationship," Amanda pointed out.

Kate nodded. "I hate to break it to you, but neither of you are exactly normal as it is. So why should your relationship be?"

She stared at her, contemplating her words for a few moments before quickly shaking her head in disagreement again.

"We have no relationship, Kate." She hurried on before Kate could protest. "No. Just leave it alone. I know what I'm doing."

This time it was Kate's turn to shrug. "I sure hope so. But let me tell you this. You can't run away from your feelings. I tried and it didn't turn out so well. Think about it."

"Point taken. Now, Carlos tells me that there's going to be some big birthday party or something?" she asked, changing the subject. Her diversion worked, Kate immediately spoke up.

"Noooo! Nothing big! Naomi's turning one, but James and I talked about it and what in the hell is the use of throwing a huge party for a one year old? That's ridiculous!" Amanda laughed and nodded at her. "We're just having a dinner here at the house tomorrow night. Logan should be flying in early tomorrow morning for it. He tried to talk Emily into coming, but I don't think she'll do it," Kate said, frowning a bit.

"Yeah well I think she's still got a week or two left of her own prison sentence," Amanda stated. Kate's eyes lit up in recognition.

"You're right. That's probably it." She was quiet for a moment. "I wonder how Logan's gonna take it when she _is_ free to go," she mused.

"If he's anything like he was seven years ago, it won't be very well. I remember how pissed he was when he came back for her and found out she was gone. None of us knew where she went. He was a wreck," Amanda supplied. Kate frowned at her.

"James has only told me bits and pieces of his conversations with Logan. And from what I've talked about with Em, I think she's definitely going to head back to New York."

Amanda nodded at her. "Oh yeah. I can't see her staying in that place. Hell, I'm thankful to be out of there. Tiny town where everyone's all up in your business?" She shuddered. "No thanks. Guess I've got another reason to be thankful I got myself a husband, albeit a fake one." Kate laughed along with her. Her phone beeped, causing her to jump slightly. She checked to see a text from Carlos. "Speaking of my beloved, that's him. Looks like someone's about to get sexed up," she said, waggling her eyebrows. The two women walked towards the front door. "Thanks for the drink and conversation. See you tomorrow night!" she said as the front door opened.

James appeared in the doorway, moving over so Amanda could pass by him. She tossed a salute at him and walked down the steps to her car. James turned back to Kate and raised an eyebrow at his wife's look.

"What's that face for?" he asked her as he shut the door. Kate sighed and followed him up the stairs.

"Amanda and Carlos are idiots."

He laughed and turned to her. "Why's that?"

"Neither of them will admit their feelings to each other, yet they're clearly okay with 'sexing it up' in her words."

James raised both his eyebrows at her. "Sexing it up?"

"Her term, not mine," she repeated. A wolfish grin appeared on his face, causing Kate to eye him apprehensively. "What?"

"Where's Naomi?" he asked.

"Down for a nap. Why?"

"Wanna go sex it up?"

Before she could respond, James swooped her off her feet and carried her into their bedroom, laughing.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Note: Ahhhh UPDATE AGAIN IN LESS THAN A WEEK. BAM. Okay but seriously. I'm kinda proud of myself. LOL.**

**THANK YOU to everyone who reads and reviews! It means a lot that y'all stick by me and my insane updating habits. :)**

**Carlos'sCupcake - ****Bahahaha! I'm pretty sure I've disappeared too! no worries! Ahhh! I read a LOT of romance...so that's probably why my writing reflects that. LMAO. I'm such a sucker for romance, I can't help it!  
BigTimeStarWars - Yes finally! :)  
SuperSillyStories - YESSSSS! You're totally fuck buddies with your husband! ...That's an odd sentence. LMAO. BAHAHA Your whole review made me LOL SO HARD. Y'all are totally sexing it up everywhere! ;) You make my life complete, Manda. The end.  
Grayhap - I know! They're so damn stubborn! Maybe someone will finally convince them that they need to be ACTUALLY together. ;)  
Emy . Elle - LMAO. I wouldn't say it was the BEST marriage in history. Idk...love kinda sounds like a great ingredient there. LOL. We'll see how it all works out with them. :P  
ValentineZombie - They're making reeeeaaaally slow baby steps. LMAO. I just love that they're doing it all backwards. Kinda hilarious to me. Maybe you SHOULD knock their heads together! Someone needs to. :P  
Tokala - HECK YES THEY FINALLY DID THE THING. And they're gonna keep doing the thing because they're just crazy about each other without realizing it. :P  
Thesandbar - Dude, I think we'd ALL love to wake up the way Amanda did! I mean seriously, if you DON'T want to wake up next to that, I feel like you'd need your head examined!  
Guest - Bahahaha FWB NEVER works out. And yeah, Manda should TOTALLY listen to Kate! You'll see a little more of Logan in this one - actually it's kinda interesting how this chapter ties in with Logan and Emily's story. :) And thank you! My week's been a little better, though not by much admittedly. But I appreciate it! :)**

* * *

"You did WHAT?!"

All the guys winced as Amanda shrieked at them. Kate stood directly behind her, an exasperated look on her face. Logan shrugged up at her.

"I asked her to marry me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh fucking hell," she said, collapsing onto the couch next to Carlos. Kate sat down on the floor, between her own husbands legs. She set down her daugher and watched as she wobbled over to Kendall, squealing in delight when he grabbed her and began tickling her.

"What? I want to marry her. What's so wrong with that?"

"Honey, you did it the wrong way," Kate started. Amanda swore again.

"Wrong way? Hell, he just did the dumbest thing in the world. OW!" Amanda rubbed her side where Carlos elbowed her. "What the hell was that for?" she demanded.

"You could try being nice for once, Manda," he stated.

"Well Logan could try not being an idiot for once, but I know how hard that is for him. Will you STOP THAT!" She glared at her husband, irritated. Kendall snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. "What are you laughing at blondie?" she shot at him. He just smirked and shrugged.

"Look, I grew up with the idiot over here," she said, jerking a thumb towards Logan. "Along with Em. And I know the both of them. I can't believe you sprung a fucking marriage proposal on her and then walked out the door. Idiot."

Annoyance flashed on Logan's features.

"I had to do something!" he protested. "She's convinced that we won't work out this time around. No matter what I say, she still thinks I'm going to just leave her."

"Uh newsflash. You did," Amanda pointed out. Logan glared at her.

"Only for a week. I'm here for the birthday tonight then I'm entering negotiations tomorrow. I'm going to record."

"Oh Logan that's great! You finally decided what you wanted to do!" Kate exclaimed. He gave her a slight grin.

"I've got a question," James spoke up. All eyes turned to him. "If you're going to record, just _how_ are you going to keep your relationship going?"

"James is right. Married or not, you're on opposite coasts," Carlos said.

"That's exactly my point!" Amanda practically yelled. "This is why you need someone to monitor your actions. You're so damn impulsive, thinking you're being romantic and shit. But UGH. You just do shit without thinking that ends up causing problems!"

Logan raised his eyebrows at her in challenge.

"Oh yeah. You're one to talk about reacting impulsively, Manda."

Carlos started laughing, not even daunted by the glare Amanda shot him. He shrugged. "What? He's right. Need I remind you about the crepes you made the other night?"

Memories of that night, and the lack of sleep she got flooded her mind, causing her to blush slightly. "Fine. I admit that I'm impulsive and tend to fly off the handle really easily," she agreed, raising her hands in submission before pointing back at Logan. "But at least I don't go off half cocked asking someone to marry me without thinking it through."

This time everyone started laughing.

"No, you just get rip roaring drunk and marry someone spur of the moment," James laughed out. Amanda glared again.

"That's – that's…an entirely different scenario!" she protested. Even Carlos laughed. He threw an arm around her shoulder, a move which did not go unnoticed by Kate, and squeezed her.

"Even I've got to admit that we take the cake on that one," he said to her. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed out a breath.

"All that aside," Kate started once everyone quieted back down. "They're right, Logan. You had to have known she wasn't going to react well to that."

"She didn't react negatively. She just kinda stood there, in shock." He frowned. "Actually, she didn't even say anything. I told her that I knew it was a lot, so she should take the week I was gone and think about it."

"Oh my God, you're such an idiot," Amanda blurted out again. Her hand came out, stopping Carlos before he could elbow her once more. "Do it again and see what happens, Romeo," she threatened.

"Dude, what are you planning on doing? Recording here then flying up there on weekends?" Kendall asked. Logan grinned at them.

"Nope. I'm going to convince them to let me record in New York."

There was silence at that. Kate was the first to speak. "You're going to move to New York?" she asked quietly. Logan looked at her and nodded.

"I don't care what it takes, I'm not losing her again."

"Congratulations. That's the first non idiotic statement you've made today," Amanda said, breaking the silence. Logan laughed.

"Thanks Manda. I appreciate that."

"That doesn't mean you're still not an idiot."

"Manda…," Carlos warned. She held her hand up to silence him.

"No, listen to me. I hate to burst your bubble, but we both know Em. And what you did probably scared the shit out of her. You admitted yourself that she doesn't believe your relationship is going to work out. I bet you didn't even mention that you were going to try and negotiate to record in New York, did you?" she demanded.

Slowly, Logan shook his head. Even James groaned at him.

"Dude, you didn't?"

"I mean come on, even _I'm_ not that dumb. And I got married in Vegas!" Carlos exclaimed. This time Amanda hit his stomach.

"Watch it, Romeo," she warned before turning back to Logan.

"I want her to trust me. She should know by now that I love her and would do anything for her," he explained. Amanda shook her head at him.

"You only got back together a few months ago, seven years after you left her unexpectedly." She held her hand up when Logan started to violently protest. "I know it was a misunderstanding, but remember. It's already happened once before."

"You scared her," Kate stated. "She's already unsure of your relationship. Then you throw the idea of marriage out at her seconds before leaving to come here. That's a lot for any girl to take."

"My point exactly," Amanda said. "I'm not saying she doesn't love or trust you. But you didn't take into account the circumstances. Logan, you pulled an idiotic move."

Logan started to visibly panic. "So what? You think I should leave and go back early?" he asked, clearly unsettled now. Amanda shrugged.

"It's up to you."

"Before you decide, just remember that your career is on the line too, man," Kendall said.

* * *

Later on that night, the party was in full swing. Kate was running around frantically, trying to make sure everyone was doing okay. She was completely unsure of how that many people ended up there. When she confronted James, he just shrugged and grinned at her before ducking away into the crowd.

Carlos was off to the side, a foolish grin on his face as he watched Amanda from afar. Kendall, noticing the look, approached him.

"See something you like?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

"Hmm?" Carlos shook himself from his trance to glance up at his friend. "Oh, I was just looking for Kate. It looks like the punch bowl needs to be refilled."

Kendall's smirk grew even bigger. "Sure you were. You were staring at Amanda."

"Well, she's my wife, isn't she?" Carlos responded.

"Legally."

Carlos shushed him, wide eyed. "Keep it down. We've got a guise to keep up!" Kendall nodded and lowered his voice.

"All I'm saying is that for someone who claims no feelings are involved, you sure are looking at her like a guy in love."

"What? That's ridiculous! I'm just…acting! That's all. Acting!" Kendall raised an eyebrow at him silently. Carlos cracked. "Alright fine. So I have feelings for her…but it's not love! And besides, we decided we were better off as friends."

"Friends with benefits, the way I hear it."

"Fuck off, Knight."

"Looks like Amanda's got that covered," Kendall retorted. Carlos flipped off his friend.

"Look, we agreed to not complicate things…" He was interrupted by Kendall's impatient snort.

"Dude. You're married. And you're sleeping together. How is _not_ involving feelings making things less complicated?" At Carlos' silence, he smirked again. "Don't be an idiot like Logan over there. Go after this one. You're already married. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We could go down in flames?"

"Then at the end of the judge's sentence you separate and never see each other again," Kendall supplied, shrugging. "Did you ever think of what could happen if things worked out?"

Carlos was silent again, mulling over his friend's words. After a few moments, he looked back up at him.

"You really think I should do something about it?"

"You'd be stupid not to."

He nodded. "Alright then."

Kendall clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Thank God you're not gonna be an idiot."

Carlos laughed and suddenly smirked. "So when are you going to meet a nice girl and settle down?"

The blond shook his head and stretched his arms out in front of him, cracking his fingers.

"I'm the last single one. Gotta live it up while I can. No settling down for me. Not for a while, my friend. Not for a good long while."


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Okay y'all. Long overdue update...but I've been distracted! I started nannying (which has been hilarious so far) on top of my other jobs. Then a few days ago I entered a trolling war with Logan's Honey Pie and now I'm just distracted left and right. BUT I promised I'd get this out. And I PROMISE that the next one won't take as long!**

**On that note, I'm skipping shout outs since I have to get up at 630 tomorrow morning (yay for working open-close...and most of that by myself /sarcasm) and I'm exhausted! But I LOVE y'all and and SINCERELY appreciate each and every one of you readers! So THANK YOU! **

* * *

A week later Carlos walked into the house to the sound of Amanda's laughter. His heart warmed and a smile appeared on his face unexpectedly. Her laugh rang through the house. He followed the sound, his grin growing larger at the sight in front of him.

Amanda was sprawled out on the couch, her feet dangling over the armrest. She was grinning into the phone that was attached to her ear. He stopped in the doorway and just watched her.

"I'm telling you, Em. You should have made him grovel some. You had him at your mercy!" There was a pause as Amanda listened to Emily's response. "Oh I know, you're too much of a romantic to have done that."

She paused again, scoffing at whatever statement Emily had to that.

"Oh yeah. I'm a real secret romantic," she said sarcastically.

Carlos grinned at that, looking down at the flowers in his hands. He was glad he trusted his gut.

"No but seriously, Emily. I'm happy for you. You and Logan are good for each other. I just can't believe it took you this long to figure it out."

A noise from the doorway had her head shooting up to see Carlos standing there, a bouquet of brightly assorted flowers in his hands.

"Um yeah…of course I'll come out for the wedding. Whatever you want," she said, somewhat distractedly into the phone as she sat up fully. Carlos just continued to grin at her from his spot in the doorway. "Yeah…just tell me when. Listen, I've got to go. I'll talk to you later. Give Hannah a hug for me."

She stood up, putting her phone in her pocket as Carlos approached her. He handed her the flowers, grin still plastered on his face at her confused look.

"What are these for?" she asked him. Carlos shrugged casually.

"No reason. Just thought you would like them."

Amanda eyed him unsurely. She wasn't big on flowers, but these made her heart stutter. It had nothing to do with the man who gave them to her. At least that was what she told herself.

"Do you want sex?" she blurted out. "Is that what this is about? Because while I appreciate the gesture, it's not required to get me naked."

Carlos through back his head and laughed. "No. Not that I would say no to it, but I thought we'd try something a little bit different tonight." When she cocked an eyebrow at him he just urged her out of the room. "Go grab your jacket."

"Where are we going?" she asked as he pushed her towards the coat closet.

"You'll see," he replied, grinning at her.

* * *

"You dragged her on stage?" Amanda asked Carlos. "Like, even after she told you not to?" Carlos grinned and nodded at her. She popped another french fry in her mouth and motioned for Carlos to explain.

'Yeah. It was Kendall's idea initially, but we all got in on it. He pulled Kate out, successfully, the first year. I thought she was gonna murder us," he said, laughing at the memory. "But once she cooled off, she was okay."

"I _would_ have. None of you would've survived."

"Oh she got Kendall the next year. Katie elbowed him and shoved him back out on stage before he could do anything else. I don't think I've ever worked so hard to not laugh hysterically at him."

"Well that's something at least," she said, laughing a little.

"Katie always kept us in line…or at least she tried to," he replied with a little grin. "There were times where she'd just walk in, look at us and turn back around and walk out without saying a word."

Amanda smirked at him. "I don't know…she seems to have all of you pretty damn whipped."

He narrowed his eyes at her and scoffed.

"She may have James whipped, but she most definitely does not have me whipped."

She laughed at him again. "So what about when you finish this album?" At his questioning glance, she spoke again. "Won't you go on a big tour or something?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Album should be released in just a few weeks. Then after the New Year I'll head out on tour. At least that's what we've tentatively got planned," he replied.

"So who'll keep you in line on this big solo tour of yours?" she teased, grinning at him. Carlos laughed and grinned back at her, shrugging.

"I don't know. It'll be different touring without the guys. Maybe I won't need someone to keep me out of trouble."

At that, Amanda let out a huge laugh. "Oh yeah right! You'll always find trouble of some sort!"

Carlos gave her a mock offended look, hand over his heart. When she just continued to laugh, he gave up and started laughing with her.

"You're probably right," he conceded. After a few moments, he looked at her, contemplating. "Unless you want to come along."

His sudden statement made her laughter die down. She stared at him, confused.

"Me? Why would you want me to come on tour with you?" she asked him.

"Well for one, you're my wife. It might be kind of odd if you _didn't_ come with me…" Amanda cut him off.

"Yeah but I'm only your wife for a few more months. And I've got my own job. I can't just leave that behind."

Carlos held up a hand to stop her. "Point taken. So maybe you can't come the whole time…but I'd like it if you could," he said, being completely honest. Amanda looked into his dark eyes, her heart beating rapidly in her chest at his expression in them.

Was he being serious? Was this how he truly felt? Or was he just playing into their fake marriage? Glancing around at her surroundings though, Amanda wasn't so sure.

If he was only trying to keep up the charade of being a happily married couple, wouldn't he have taken her out somewhere more high profile than this? Clearing her throat, Amanda spoke once more.

"Right. Well…we'll see," she said slowly. Looking around once more, she decided to bring it up. "I can't believe you remembered this place."

Carlos shrugged at her and grinned. Casually he took her hand in his own and held it across the table.

"I listen," he said simply.

"Yeah but most guys wouldn't have remembered a girl saying months ago that we ought to try out this random diner."

"I'm not most guys."

Amanda's heart flip flopped violently again at the look her gave her. The weight of his hand in her own was odd; not bad – just odd. She wasn't used to this. She was expecting some lame fancy place; not to be wooed at a hole in the wall diner while he entertained her with stories of tour antics.

"No, you're not," she was forced to admit.

Carlos grinned at her admission. Again, he was glad he trusted his instinct and brought her here. While he was certain Amanda would look beautiful in candlelight, a fancy dinner with violins and all that shit wouldn't suit her. To be honest, it didn't suit him either.

He knew she had been expecting him to take her to some high profile place. He loved being able to surprise her with this.

"So you've heard some of what we do. But what about you?"

Amanda gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on. You're the queen of revenge. You must have stories of catering jobs gone wrong!"

She gave him an affronted look and placed a hand over her heart, mimicking his earlier move.

"I'll have you know that not one of my jobs has ended in disaster."

Carlos smirked at her. "Oh really? What about the almost castration incident that indirectly resulted in us staying married?" he asked.

"Okay, that happened after the conference was over," she countered. When he just raised an eyebrow at her and kept smirking, she huffed out an impatient breath. "What? Why are you smirking at me like that?"

"You got banned from a hotel. In Las Vegas," he said for emphasis.

"They had shitty room service anyways."

Carlos threw back his head, letting out a loud bark of laughter. "You're a real piece of work, Manda. You know that?"

She grinned at him. "I hope you mean that in a good way. Oh hell, I wouldn't give a shit if you didn't. I'll still take it as a compliment."

Still laughing he nodded. "Yeah. I definitely mean that in a good way. Come on, let's get out of here."

Taking her hand, he pulled her from the booth and dropped some cash on the table for a tip. He then dragged her out of the restaurant.

* * *

"I can't believe you did that," Amanda said as they walked through the front door. Her voice was colored with shock. Carlos followed behind her, carting the largest carton of gummy bears she'd ever seen.

"Yeah well, I figured it's more practical to buy in bulk," he joked, motioning to the giant canister in his arms. "I'm just going to put this down in the kitchen."

Amanda watched, smiling at his back. After dinner he'd taken her to the boardwalk where they walked along, hand in hand. They stopped to browse at a few of the vendors, buying junk food that caught their eye. When Amanda spotted the gummy bears, her eyes lit up like it was the Fourth of July. Seeing her expression, Carlos immediately bought them, refusing her feeble protests.

Gummy bears aside, she'd really enjoyed their night out. It felt almost like a real date to her. The moment she thought it, her eyes widened.

"I just set them on the island. The container's so big I didn't know what else to do with…it…," Carlos trailed off as he walked back into the room, catching sight of Amanda's look. "Manda? You okay?" he asked her.

"This was…a date," she said slowly.

"Well yeah…"

"No. Like a real date." Carlos frowned at her, not comprehending what she was saying. "This wasn't for show, was it?" she asked him.

He stared at her, dark eyes unreadable as he weighed his words. "No. It wasn't for show," he replied. "I think maybe…I might be falling in love with you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: PLEASE DON'T KILL ME for taking so long to update! Honestly, I've been so crazy busy it's ridiculous. Been nannying almost every morning before running into my regular job. Then getting off and trying to figure out lesson plans while unwinding my brain...yeah. I had yesterday off and I literally spent almost the entire day lounging around trying to regain my sanity. But I've spent most of today writing so the next update definitely WON'T take even half as long!**

**And well, to make up for being so AWFUL with updating...here's an extra long chapter, complete with an M rating. (Don't kill me for that either, as it's not my forte!)**

**As always, a HUGE thank you to all of my lovely readers! I GREATLY appreciate y'all sticking with me and this story! Things are about to get exciting... :D**

* * *

"I think maybe…I might be falling in love with you."

"You…you what?" Amanda sputtered at him, eyes wide. She backed up, trying to put distance between them, but Carlos followed, unwilling to let her escape. "You love me?"

"Yes…no. Damn it," he swore, pacing around restlessly.

"Well which is it?" she demanded. "Are you fucking with me? Because I swear if you are you'll regret it. I'll make you those cum crepes this time for real!" she threatened.

Carlos couldn't help it; he let out a small laugh tinged with frustration. "Even now when I'm trying to tell you how I feel you manage to both terrify and amuse me."

Amanda just stared at him, unsure of what to say. How did one respond when your sort of fake husband just said that he might love you right before at laughing at your threat?

Carlos ran a hand over his short locks and took a deep breath, gathering all his courage.

"Look, Manda, I…I have feelings for you. Heading towards serious feelings."

"But this – this is…no, you can't," she stammered out. Carlos gave a short humorless laugh.

"Then explain to me why you're the only one I can think about. Why whenever I close my eyes, you immediately appear. I'm about to launch my solo career, yet all I can think is that I don't want to do it unless you're the one right there with me. Explain that, Amanda," he demanded.

Her eyes widened further, glassy with shock. She backed up and sat dumbly on the couch, staring up at him. Unsure of what to do, she ran a hand through her own dark hair, absently pulling on it. She looked up at his expectant face and took a deep breath.

"Okay. Okay," she started. "Maybe you do have those…feelings," she conceded. "But this…this can't happen…"

Once again, Carlos swore, interrupting her train of thought. "Damn it, Amanda!" He crouched down in front of her and grabbed onto her arms, shaking her slightly. "You can't honestly tell me that you don't feel even the slightest bit the same."

For a brief second, she thought about lying. After all, wasn't the point to _not_ make things more complicated than they already were? But one look into his dark eyes and she couldn't.

"I can't," she whispered. The dark eyes facing her widened slightly, as if he wasn't expecting her to admit to that.

"What?" he asked, wanting to be sure he heard her correctly.

"I can't say that I don't feel the same…because I do," she responded.

Carlos' lips quirked up in a smile, face beginning to light up. His hand came up to brush lightly over her cheek, causing her to shudder. He leaned forward to press his lips against hers, but she pressed a hand to his chest, stopping him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"No, Carlos. We can't do this," she said at his confused looked. Anger flashed in his eyes.

"What the hell, Manda?!" he swore, irritation seeping out of him. "What's the problem? We both feel the same, so why can't we do this?" he demanded, his eyes begging her for answers.

"Because things are already complicated enough between us. Say we do enter into this twisted little relationship, feelings and all. What happens if it ends before our marriage is up? Then we've got to live together and try not to murder each other," she said.

Carlos dropped his head so his forehead was resting on hers. He gave a sigh, his breath ghosting over her face. Amanda's heart rate picked up as his hands began lightly massaging her arms.

"But what if things work out, between us, Manda?" he questioned, voice soft. "Don't you want to take that chance?"

Amanda turned her head, refusing to meet his gaze. Carlos let out another frustrated sigh as she broke out of his grasp and walked towards the stairs.

"Manda…," he started, but this time it was Amanda who interrupted him.

"I need some time alone, Carlos. Time to clear my head. Just give me some time to think."

With that, she walked up the stairs, leaving Carlos alone. Hearing her door slam above him, he let out a groan of frustration, dropping his head into his hands.

Maybe he pushed too hard, moved a little too fast. He laughed at that thought, flopping back onto the couch. Their whole relationship was exactly as Amanda had said: twisted. He flew to Las Vegas on his vacation because he had been entranced by her. Then in a drunken night, gotten hitched to her. After months of living together, pretending to be a happily married couple for the cameras, they started sleeping together. Yeah, no way was he moving too fast by declaring his feelings…or what he knew of his feelings anyways.

This was the most backwards relationship he had ever been in, he thought to himself with a smile. But despite that, he was happy with Amanda. Now he just needed to convince her of that.

He heard the sound of the shower upstairs coming on. Grinning to himself, Carlos got to his feet. Oh he'd show her all right. He'd show her exactly why they could do this.

* * *

Amanda sighed and closed her eyes, letting the warm water envelop her. Steam rose from the confines of the shower, filling the space with even more heat. She ran a hand over her hair, making sure it was completely wet before lathering it up.

Carlos had surprised her. She wasn't expecting him to declare his feelings like that. I mean, really. Who just blurts out the fact that that they might be in love you with you after an almost perfect date? She paused for a moment. Well, a lot of people do. In fact, that's kind of the perfect time to do so. She groaned, coming very close to banging her head against the tiled wall.

No, you know what? She was right to react the way she did! I mean, did it make sense to reject the possibility of full on out relationship with a gorgeous pop star just because things might get complicated? Not exactly. But still! She had a right to how she felt. And right now she felt as though she was on the precipice, about to fall right off.

It wasn't fair. She didn't ask for this. She was just fine living her life, traveling the country for her job, living up the single life. She pressed a hand to her heart. How did this happen to her?!

Again, it just wasn't fair. Carlos was sweet, handsome, a regular fucking Romeo. And he was a damn pop star. And she was just a caterer from Texas that he married randomly. She wasn't equipped to deal with this.

Amanda was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even hear the shower door slide open. She shivered as some of the heat escaped and a small blast of cold air floated in. Frowning, she started to turn around, but stopped at the feel of a hard body pressed up against hers.

"Relax, Manda," Carlos said softly to her before she could freak. His hands rested on her hips, thumbs massaging her wet skin.

"What the hell are you doing?" she managed to get out, turning her head to look at him over shoulder. "What part of 'I want to be _alone_' do you not understand?!"

He shrugged slightly at her before leaning down and attaching his lips to her neck. His teeth nipped at the skin, causing her brain to to become fuzzy. Wait…wasn't she mad at him?

"Carlos…stop," Amanda said, trying to break out of his grasp, but the grip he had was too strong. "Carlos, I told you. I need time to think. You coming in here like this isn't helping."

"Mmm…but how can I convince you of my point when I'm out there?" he responded, his breath ghosting over her ear. Amanda shuddered, body relaxing a little more into his.

"I – I…" Carlos smirked at her feeble reply.

"Let me love you, mi amor," he murmured against her skin, his voice taking on a husky tone. Amanda could do nothing but nod in assent as one of his hands sensually trailed up her body, from her hip up her torso to cup one of her breasts. She let out a small moan as he massaged the flesh, pinching the nipple between his forefingers.

Her right arm wound its way up and over, behind his head to cup his neck, trying to pull him closer to her. Carlos let out a hiss as her ass pushed back into his growing erection.

"Fuck," he growled, harshly biting the skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Amanda gasped, her body jolting at the unexpected nip. Before she could say anything, Carlos' other hand traveled down to cup her center, making her gasp once more. He smirked into her skin, pleased that he could create such a reaction in her.

Amanda's hips arched into his hand, trying to get him to do something. The skin to skin contact was good, but it just wasn't enough. She needed more. Frustrated with him, she turned her head to deliver a harsh bite of her own right below his neck on his collarbone.

"Carlos, do something," she demanded, her voice breathy. He pressed a kiss to her hair and chuckled.

"As you wish, mi amor."

The words had barely left his mouth when two of his fingers entered her abruptly, causing her to arch her back and let out a loud moan that echoed off the tiled walls. Carlos quickly wrapped his free arm around her torso, keeping her pressed up against him. His fingers roughly massaged the skin on her side as the fingers on his other hand began a fast pace, thrusting in and out of her repeatedly.

The water was still cascading down over their wet bodies, making it easy for Amanda to slip and slide up against Carlos. He groaned as her back brushed up against his now pulsing hard on every time his fingers pushed into her.

Every sound that poured out of Amanda's mouth was a shameless moan. The fire burning in the pit of her stomach kept building until she felt like she was going to explode. Carlos' lips had reattached themselves to her neck, leaving mark after mark on her body.

Feeling her getting close, Carlos allowed his thumb to brush over her clit right as he crooked his fingers to touch that special spot that had her seeing stars. Amanda's body jerked in his grasp, her breaths falling out in rapid pants.

"That's it," Carlos said lowly in her ear, his own breathing stuttering out as he watched her fall apart. "Come on, Manda. Let it go for me."

The combined feeling of his hands working her body along with his teeth pulling on her earlobe did it. She fell head first into her orgasm, calling out Carlos' name repeatedly. As she came down from her high, she fell back limply against him, sliding somewhat due to the water.

Before she could even think, Carlos had flipped her around and pinned her against the cold tile, blocking her from the spray of the water. His hands came up on either side of her head, caging her in as his mouth swooped down on hers. His tongue pried open her lips, delving in to tangle with hers roughly.

She tried to keep up, tried to get a grip, but she couldn't. She was lost in the feel of Carlos pressed up against her, his mouth completely dominating her own. Helpless to the feeling, she submitted, allowing Carlos to own her.

The feeling of his erection straining against her thigh had her snapping out of it. Sneakily, she let her hand wander down and wrapped it around the thick column of flesh. Carlos let out a broken moan into her mouth at the feel of her hand around him.

She stroked him, leisurely at first, slowly setting a pace. His skin was soft, an odd contrast to the the fact that he was impossibly hard and ready to go. Her thumb ran over his slit, spreading the drop of precum that had appeared around.

"Manda," Carlos whimpered out against her neck. Smirking to herself, she continued on, giving him a light squeeze as she quickened her pace. Carlos growled and grabbed onto her wrist, effectively stopping her.

Her heart skipped as he locked eyes with her. His gaze was dark, almost feral as he pried her hand off him reluctantly and trapped it above her own head.

"Enough," he stated. "I'm not finishing like that." With that, he plunged into her, causing a scream to erupt from her throat. Carlos rested his forehead against hers, groaning as he felt her grip him like a vice. "Fuck," he growled once more, releasing her wrists, allowing her arms to fall weakly to her sides. Roughly, he lifted one leg to wrap around his waist before proceeding to do the same with the other.

Carlos wasted no time, pulling out and thrusting back into her as far as he could, his head hitting her cervix almost painfully. Amanda could barely breathe as he pummeled her body, almost fucking her into the wall. Her hands came up, grasping onto his forearms as she tried to grasp on to some form of reality.

With each rough thrust, her head banged up against the wall, but Amanda felt nothing but the exquisite, and painful, pleasure that Carlos was building up in her.

Dropping his head to rest between her breasts, Carlos sped up his thrusts, grunting slightly. He was right there on the edge, but he refused to go over first. Slipping a hand between their bodies, his thumb located that little bundle of nerves.

"Ca – Carlos," Amanda called out his name on a whine as he began to rub circles over the small nub. He engulfed her nipple in his mouth, sucking harshly on it.

"Come on, mi amor. Come for me," he pleaded, his accent growing thicker as he spoke around the mound. He gave one last deep thrust, causing Amanda to enter into her second orgasm.

She lost all sense of time as she succumbed to the overwhelming bliss. Vaguely, she could feel Carlos reach his release as well, calling out her name repeatedly as he continued to work them both through. She clung onto his shoulders, trying to stay upright as the euphoria faded. Carlos' thrusts slowed down, his head resting against her neck.

Amanda could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest, her own right up there with it. She let out a ragged breath, hands resting limply on his muscled shoulders. After a few moments, Carlos lifted his head, placing a light kiss on her shoulder before leaning in to kiss her mouth.

When they broke apart, they simply stared at each other, each trying to gage the other's thoughts. Amanda couldn't think straight, even if she tried. Her brain, not to mention her body, felt like mush. And with the way Carlos was looking at her, her heart was going to follow right along.

Without saying a word, Carlos turned off the now lukewarm spray and opened the sliding door. Keeping Amanda in his arms, he carried her out of the shower, over to the vanity. He placed her on top, the cold marble causing her to shiver. Carlos grabbed a couple of towels, wrapping one around his waist before wrapping the other around Amanda.

Amanda allowed him to maneuver the fluffy towel around her body, carefully rubbing over her sensitive skin as he helped dry her off. Her eyes stayed on him the entire time, unsure of what to say.

When he was satisfied that they were dry enough, Carlos scooped her back up into his arms and carried her across the hall into his own bedroom. Amanda opened her mouth to question him, but one look at his face had her quieting down. He set her down gently on the bed, laying right next to her. She allowed herself to be pulled into his arms, her head resting against his chest.

Maybe this wasn't the most traditional relationship. And maybe things _weren't_ going to work between them. But as she laid there, listening as Carlos' heart beat a steady rhythm along with hers, she smiled to herself. Maybe Carlos was right. Maybe it wasn't so crazy for them to try an _actual _relationship.

He was a good man. Sweet, charming and hot as hell. They got along and enjoyed each other's company, in more ways than one. Amanda reached her hand out, searching for his, linking her fingers together with his when she found it. She felt Carlos smile into her hair before pressing his lips softly onto her head. She repeated the gesture, placing a soft kiss over his heart.

"Okay," she murmured softly to him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hey y'all...I'm really sorry but I'm gonna be a jerk and not respond to reviews again. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. :-( I've been sick for almost a week (fever, no voice, physically sick...the works). Luckily it looks like my fever is FINALLy gone, but I'm still almost voiceless and sick. I PROMISE that next chapter I'll start back up with the reviews!**

**And I'm sorry for the insane fluffiness of this chapter...but I NEEDED FLUFFY. I just...was really craving it. Ahahaha. But this is NOT the end. We've still got about 5 more chapters left of this...and ohhh are they going to be explosive! :D**

**THANK YOU for reading and reviewing! You really have NO IDEA how much it means to me, as it's been a rough couple of weeks. So your reviews and messages have been a WONDERFUL pick me up! THANK YOU!**

* * *

After that night, Amanda wasn't sure how she should act around Carlos. Sure, they had admitted their feelings for each other before he attacked her in the shower (not that she really minded that part, to be honest). And yeah, she had agreed to try their relationship out as well; an actual relationship instead of just a guise for the media. But as she kept trying to tell everyone, this _wasn't_ a normal relationship. The fact that they had finally made it somewhat official didn't relieve her of the idea that maybe things were going to be awkward.

But Carlos did.

He put her at ease. Their relationship stayed the same, except that they didn't turn off the touchy feely closeness they portrayed when in front of the public. It continued, even at home. Carlos would pull her close to him on the couch while they watched movies. His hand would occasionally grab hers over the table while they were eating. He'd press soft, sweet kisses to her forehead randomly before smiling down at her, making her heart thud painfully in her chest.

He made it easy. So despite every fiber of her telling her otherwise, Amanda went along with it.

And she was happy.

Carlos released his solo album right after Thanksgiving. There was a huge album release party, one that made Amanda feel incredibly uncomfortable. Not that she wasn't used to big parties like this. Hell, she made her living off of them. But never had she been part of it, attention on her almost as much as it was on Carlos. Recognizing the look, Kate had taken pity on her and rescued her right as she was about to be cornered by another group of curious people.

"Oh my God," Amanda breathed out as they headed towards the buffet table. "How do you stand it?" she asked. Kate laughed slightly at her.

"You get used to it, mostly," she replied. "I just remember what it was like at my first big event like this. I was ambushed left and right. I recognized that look of controlled panic in your eyes." Amanda looked up and saw a grin on Kate's face. She nodded in acknowledgement.

The two women each grabbed a plate and began filling it up. "So how _do_ you deal with it?" Amanda asked as they headed towards a small table off to the side. Kate shrugged.

"I don't make a lot of official appearances with James to begin with. But when I do, I've learned to just smile and pretend like I belong, even if I don't feel like it. And believe me, even after a couple years, I still don't feel like I do."

"So basically this feeling of being an animal on display never goes away?"

"Nope."

Amanda blew out a breath. "Great," she muttered. Kate laughed at her.

"I promise you it does get easier. Most of the focus is on them anyways," she said, motioning over to where the guys were standing.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Amanda said, her gaze following Kate's hand, eyes landing on her husband. Her lips curved up to the side as she watched him interact with those around him. He was smiling, laughing at something someone said. His hand would come out to touch lightly on someone's shoulder, an acknowledgement of their presence. He had an easy going way about him, an openness that made people gravitate towards him. It was easy to see why he was so successful.

"Amanda!" A quick slap to her arm had her jerking her gaze away. Kate was smirking at her, a laugh threatening to escape. "Distracted much?"

"I'm sorry…I just got…distracted," she acknowledged lamely. Kate did laugh at that. "What were you saying?"

"Oh I was just asking you how things were going with Carlos. But from the looks of things…"

"Shut up," Amanda cut her off. Kate laughed again at the expression on her friend's face.

"But seriously. How are things since you decided to be adults and actually express your feelings?"

Amanda rolled her eyes, deciding to let that comment slide. "Things are…good. Really good." At Kate's impatient huff, she just grinned. "What?"

"Oh come on! Details!"

"You want details? Like a play by play on just how good it was last night?"

Kate hit her in the arm. "You're absolutely ridiculous." Amanda laughed at that and shrugged. "Does he make you happy, Manda?" She was quiet for a few moments, contemplating.

"He's different," she finally said.

"Different good?" Kate asked lightly.

"I haven't quite figured that out yet," came her quiet reply, eyes drifting back to Carlos.

Instead of responding immediately, Kate gazed back and for the between Amanda and Carlos. She smiled lightly to herself as she took in the lovestruck expression that was forming on Amanda's face. She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, squeezing quickly.

"If he makes you happy, there's not much else to figure out."

* * *

He _did_ make her happy.

Amanda thought about what Kate said a lot in the next couple of weeks. Maybe it was just that simple. Carlos had been open with his feelings, so why shouldn't she?

As Christmas approached, things got busier. Amanda had a ton of catering jobs lined up; there was always some huge elaborate party during Christmas. A week after the release of his album, Carlos had announced tour dates. Right after the New Year, he'd begin tour, starting locally. He had a short amount of time to prepare, so his days were spent in rehearsals.

They had agreed to spend Christmas alone, just the two of them. Despite being in an actual relationship, they still felt odd in front of each other's families. It was bad enough lying to the world, but to your own family? It was just awkward. So they'd given everyone the excuse that they wanted to spend their first Christmas as a couple alone, in order to make their own traditions.

Christmas morning Amanda woke up bright and early to the smell of something burning. She flew out of bed and down into the kitchen where she saw Carlos frantically trying to waft smoke away from the smoke detector. The sound of her laughter had him turning around, wide eyed at her.

"What the hell happened?" she gasped out in between laughs.

"I woke up early and thought I'd make breakfast. I should've known from before, but pancakes really aren't my thing."

Amanda walked over to inspect the charred remains in the pan. She couldn't help it, she laughed again before throwing her arms around him and kissing him.

"I don't even want to know how you managed to burn them _that_ badly," she started after they broke apart. "But thanks. The thought was nice."

Carlos grinned at her, his hands moving to her hips and massaging the skin there. "Mmm," he murmured against her lips. "Just how nice?"

She grinned at him and pushed him away before he could make his move. "Nope. Back away, Garcia. You teased me with food. Now, let the master do it."

It took much longer than normal for her to make the pancakes. Carlos decided to stay and help. Although his version of helping was much different than hers. He'd come up behind her, giving her a quick nip on the neck and retreating behind the island before she could whack him with the spatula. He'd give her a cheeky grin that she couldn't help but return.

After what seemed like forever, they finally finished. Instead of eating in the dining room, Carlos insisted they sit on the floor in the living room, right next to the tree. Time was forgotten as they sat there, trading stories of previous Christmas', laughing at each others tales.

Amanda had just finished telling him about a Christmas that she had switched Cassie's stocking with one filled with actual coal, causing her sister to freak out. Carlos laughed and shook his head at her.

"You really do know how to mess with people, don't you?" he asked. She shrugged at him, a grin still on her face.

"It's a gift." She leaned over and pulled out a package that was tucked behind the tree against the wall. "Speaking of gifts…um, here," she said, quickly handing it to him. Carlos raised an eyebrow at her before opening it.

"Manda…"

"I know you have a regular iPad, but I heard you complaining about it running slowly. And I saw you eying the mini the other week when we were out. You're always fiddling on yours and messing around, so I thought maybe you could use the mini when you're traveling and on tour. I mean, it's smaller so it wouldn't take up much space and.."

Carlos stopped her rambling by pulling her close and pressing his lips to hers. "You're right. I've been thinking about getting it for a while now. I love it, Manda," he said to her. His hand came up and brushed her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her sweetly once more. "I have something for you too."

A flat square box was placed in front of her. Amanda took it from him, unwrapping it slowly. Her heart thudded as she opened the lid. There, sitting delicately in the small box, was a necklace. It was simple, really, nothing flashy. But it was beautiful nonetheless. On the end of a long silver chain was a small decorative heart, diamonds encrusting the outline of it. Amanda's eyes widened and she looked back up at Carlos.

He took the box from her, lifting the necklace out before coming up behind her to place it around her neck.

"I know you're not one for over the top stuff, but I took one look at this and immediately thought of you."

Amanda finally found her voice, hand coming up to clutch onto the small heart as she turned to face him. "Carlos, I can't accept this."

His eyebrow quirked up at her. "Why not?"

"This – this is really…I mean. You don't give a diamond necklace to just anybody…"

"You're right," he interrupted. "And I didn't. I gave it to the woman I'm in love with."

Her heart stopped in her chest, the breath flying right out of her. "Oh," she managed to choke out. Without waiting for a response, Carlos went on.

"I know it's cheesy and whatever, especially to say it today, but Amanda, I'm in love with you. I never in a million years thought that a fake drunken marriage could lead to this, but hell. I'm so glad it did. And I'm sure as hell glad that you almost castrated the judge's brother, pissing him off bad enough to make us stay married. Because I am so in love with you and your crazy ways."

Amanda stared at him, heart suddenly beating a thousand miles per hour. She knew he was waiting, patiently at that, for her to say something, but she couldn't figure out how to say what she wanted.

"Damn it, Carlos," she finally blurted out. His face dropped at that.

"I'm sorry if it's too sudden for you, but I couldn't hold back any longer. Don't feel pressured to say anything back," he said quickly, trying to cover it up. Amanda shook her head at him.

"No that's not what I meant. I'm just pissed because you said all these sweet things and damn it, how am I supposed to tell you I love you after all that?"

This time it was Carlos' turn for his eyes to widen. "You love me?" he asked.

"Well no shit. I'd have to be an idiot not to. And I pride myself on _not_ being an idiot."

A grin lit his face as he took her into his arms before kissing her senseless. As they broke apart, he started laughing at her.

"What?" she asked him.

"I don't know any other girl that would swear when someone says they love them."

"That's because I suck at this stuff."

Carlos captured her lips with his own once more. "No, you don't. You've just got your own way. And damn if I don't love you for that." Amanda grinned back at him.

"Well that's good, because you're kind of stuck with me now."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Woot! Another update! And more good news - I'M BETTER! ...Well mostly. :-P**

**I know that I said that there'd be around 5 more chapters. Well um...I'm thinking the next chapter is going to be it. Either that one or the one after...so prepare yourselves! But good news, I've still got ONE more story after this. And it's focused on (you guessed it!) Kendall! So these characters will still be around!**

**BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everyone who reads and reviews! I appreciate y'all SOOOO much!**

**ValentineZombie - Oh my word I know! They're so adorable together, cheesiness aside! :-P Carlos is def a good match for Amanda! Ahahaha. And thank you! It was a LONG week of being sick, but I am SO glad to be better! WOOT! Love you too! :)  
Thesandbar - I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL YOU WITH THE FLUFF! Ahahaha...but to be fair, fluff is kinda my thing! :-P  
Tokala - Bahahaha! Being completely honest, I'd probably swear too! Wow...we're a great group aren't we? :-P Yeaaaah I needed the fluff! Ahaha! And YES I AM FINALLY FEELING BETTER! WOOT!  
Grayhap - Ahahaha! Well yay! I'm glad you liked it and fangirled over it! :-D WOOT!  
Canwenotlogan - Oh wow! Thank you for the compliments! I'm SO glad that you're enjoying this one (and my other ones!)! And yep, that's her! I'm glad someone else thinks I'm doing a good job with her! :-D I'm having fun writing her!  
Emy . Elle - Awww yayyy! I LOVE FLUFF! Lmao! And I think I might have a problem...like when I'm done with this and my next story...Idk that I'll be able to write anything that's NOT in this world. Bahahaha! I don't watch that show, but I just tried to think of how I'd handle it personally. Lol.  
SuperSillyStories - OMG. I didn't even think of it turning to Tiff's one shot. BAHAHAHA. That's totally right! AND YES HE LOVES YOU AND YOU LOVE HIM AND FLUUUUUFFFFFF! Bahahaha...I had way too much fun with writing your reaction. :-P  
Guest - Yes! They finally admitted that they love each other! And I feel like Kate's the one who's been through the most, so she's the one who can make them realize how stupid they're all being. :-P I'm glad you liked the chapter! Hopefully this one will be just as good! :)**

* * *

"You sure you can't come?"

Amanda gave an impatient sigh at her husband's plea. It was the thousandth time he had asked her this in the last day. She turned around to face him, hands on her hips.

"No. I told you, I can only come to a few of the local shows. I have jobs lined up that I can't cancel."

"Sure you can," he said, directing a charming grin at her.

"Carlos," she started, the exasperation on her face mirroring her tone.

"No really! There are tons of other caterers in the area that could do it!"

"And that's exactly why I need to take them!" she replied, trying to make him understand. "My business is still new here, and I'm lucky to have the clients I do. I can't afford for someone else to take them away just because I'm following you around like a puppy."

Carlos looked at her meaningfully, taking in her words. "So you're going to stay? Make your business a permanent fixture here in L.A. instead of traveling?" he asked. Amanda shrugged.

"Well…," she started slowly. "My hometown wasn't big enough to have a catering business like mine that would thrive. So I started the traveling thing. But L.A. is pretty damn big, and filled with a lot of right schmucks willing to pay others to work for them…" Amanda shrugged once more before agreeing. "Yeah. I mean, I figured that I'd find a permanent location even. Some small building that could be my base; a place with an apartment above it. That way I'd have somewhere to stay after we divorce."

Carlos immediatly stopped at her words, faltering a little. "You – you…um. You still want to get divorced?" he asked, his attempt at sounding casual failing. Amanda caught onto his tone and turned back to him, puzzlement written on her features.

"Well, don't you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I hadn't really thought about it much in the past few months," he admitted. He shoved his hands into his front pockets. "But now that you bring it up…no. Wouldn't it be odd to get divorced now?"

"I think it'd be more odd to stay married," Amanda countered. Carlos leaned up against the back of the couch.

"How do you figure?" he asked, honestly curious.

"I just…marriage is a lot of pressure. And we've only been 'officially' together for a few months…"

Carlos laughed at that. "We've been just fine living with the 'pressure' of marriage for almost nine months now, Manda. Why does that have to change?"

Amanda let out a sound of irritation. Her hands tangled themselves in her long hair, pulling on the tresses in frustration.

"Because…once the nine months are up, it's no longer just a fake marriage anymore. It's real, and I don't know that I can handle being married for real right now. I just…that was not in my plan!"

"Don't you think it might look a little odd for us to get divorced only to continue dating? The media and the public will know for sure then that this was all just a farce!" Carlos pointed out, gesturing in the space between them.

"I – I…I didn't think about that," Amanda admitted. She was quick to hurry on before Carlos could voice his victory. "But that still doesn't change the fact that I'm not ready to be married for real to you!" she yelled back at him.

"So we stay married and if it doesn't work, we divorce then," Carlos supplied, shrugging as if it were the most obvious answer. Amanda groaned loudly. She grabbed a throw pillow off the arm chair and threw it at him, grazing the side of his face as his hand came up to deflect it.

"It's not that simple, you idiot!" she shouted. "I may love your idiotic ass, but I still don't _want_ to stay married!"

"Manda…," he started, taking a step towards her. Amanda backed up, hands in front of her to stop him.

"No. No," she said. She took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to control her temper. "I don't want to talk about this right now. Clearly we're on different sides. Just…go on your tour. I need to work."

Before he could say another word, Amanda fled from his sight, escaping outside.

* * *

The next week was tense between the couple. Carlos kept trying to bring the subject of their possible divorce up, but Amanda evaded like nobody's business. He finally made her talk right before he left, causing a huge blow up between the two of them that she was certain anyone within a 30 mile radius could've heard.

It was a week before Valentine's Day. Their nine month deadline ended two days before the holiday. Amanda was currently busy prepping for a huge Valentine's Day party being held at some random studio. She was knee deep in the kitchen, working on a few dishes that could be prepared early. Kate was sitting off to the side, watching her work.

"I don't know how you do it," she commented, watching as Amanda went between various dishes.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not even bothering to look up at her.

"How do you keep it all straight? I mean, you're doing what? Like three different things at once? With my luck I'd end up mixing up the bowls and would put the wrong ingredients in."

Amanda laughed as she moved easily around the kitchen. "That wouldn't end well for someone." Kate laughed along with her. "I don't know…I guess it's just years of experience. It's second nature now."

"So…any plans for Valentine's? You know, besides this big party the day before. Is Carlos coming home?"

Amanda stiffened at the mention of Carlos, a move that did not go unnoticed by Kate.

"No. I think he's got a show the day before, in Vegas I believe." She gave a small laugh at that. "Funny now that I think of it."

"What is?"

"Oh, just that our marriage began in Vegas and Carlos will be there when it ends."

Kate raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. "You're…y'all are divorcing?" she questioned. Amanda shrugged at her as she continued to move around, still working.

"He's convinced that we need to stay married, but I'm not so sure. We've had a couple of huge fights about it, actually." Kate stared at her, confusion on her face.

"I don't understand. I thought things were going great with y'all. What's changed?" she asked.

"Things _are_ going great. Or well, they were, until this happened," she muttered. She shook her head as if to snap out of it. "Carlos thinks we can just stay married and continue on the way we are."

"And that's a problem because…?"

"Because then that means we're married for real!" Amanda exclaimed, slamming the whisk down in the bowl in front of her. Kate pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to be patient.

"Okay. Help me out here, Amanda. How is that any different than the past few months?" Kate asked her. Amanda pushed the bowl aside and moved to sit down across from Kate.

"Because the past nine months have been fake. This marriage was just a legal marriage, nothing more. But in a few days, we don't have to be legally tied to each other." When Kate just stared at her, Amanda continued on, her hands coming out in front of her to gesture wildly. "That makes it a real marriage! And I'm not ready to be married for real to him! Marriage is a lot of pressure, and I don't want that. I mean, we just started officially 'dating.' This is supposed to be the fun part! Marriage takes the fun part away."

Realization dawned on Kate. She laughed and smiled gently at Amanda, reaching over to grab onto her friend's hand.

"Amanda, marriage doesn't take the fun out of relationships. Trust me, I've been married now for three years. It's different, sure. But James and I still have fun. And we love each other insanely. You love Carlos, don't you?"

"Well yeah…"

"So why should a simple piece of paper change that?"

Amanda stared at her, trying to come up with a response. "But…we'd be married," she said dumbly.

"Like you have been for the past nine months," Kate responded patiently.

"Ugh! Why is it so odd to want to date before being actually married! This is just so damn complicated," Amanda swore, banging her head on the table. Kate just laughed at her.

"You're not exactly in the most normal relationship, Manda. You did everything backwards. Don't you think that divorcing just so you could date would make things more complicated?" she pointed out softly.

Amanda slowly lifted her head to look at Kate, contemplating. After a few moments she spoke.

"We really are a dysfunctional couple, aren't we?" she asked. Kate just laughed and nodded.

"I'm afraid so. But it works for you." Amanda nodded absently, eyes focusing in on her ring.

"It really doesn't change anything, does it?" Amanda questioned, more to herself. "Married or not, I still love him. And he loves me." She paused once more. "And if things go wrong, we could always divorce then I suppose." She grinned up at Kate. "Unless he pisses me off bad enough; then I'll just kill him."

"I think maybe you should call Carlos."

* * *

_"So um…I know things have been kinda awkward between us. But I want you to know that I love you and um…I want things to work. So just…give me a call whenever you get this so we can figure this all out. Or not. You know, it's um…it's up to you. I love you…bye."_

Carlos felt his heart stutter at the sound of Amanda's voice. He listened to the voicemail two more times before trying to call her back. He swore when it went straight to voicemail. Checking his watch he remembered the party she was catering for.

Inspiration struck him suddenly. Grinning to himself he called up the airlines and made reservations to fly home the next day for Valentine's. He had an interview that morning, but if he hurried after, he could make it home in time to take Amanda out before having to fly out the following morning for the next show. Pulling some strings, he managed to get last minute reservations for dinner for the two of them.

After getting everything set up, he sent Amanda a quick text, letting her know that he wanted to work things out and that he'd be home the next day. He gave her the address of the restaurant and told her to meet him there.

"Carlos! Come on man, you've got to get ready!"

The sound of his tour manager snapped him out of it. He finished up his text and tossed his phone to the side before heading to wardrobe to get ready for his show.

* * *

Carlos swore as he entered the restaurant. He was over three hours late. His flight had been delayed due to inclement weather. And he couldn't call as his phone had died right before he boarded and he had left his charger on the bus. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to check to see if Amanda was still there. The maitre d had looked sympathetically at him, shaking his head before telling him that Amanda had left over an hour ago. Checking his watch, he raced out of the restaurant and drove straight back to his house. His heart pounded as he pulled up, not seeing her car.

He rushed into the house, flipping on the lights and calling for her. Silence greeted him. He ran upstairs to find his bedroom empty of her belongings. He felt the first licks of fear enter him as he glanced frantically around. An envelope sitting on the bed caught his eye. Dread filled him as he opened it, pulling out a stack of folded up papers. As he unfolded them, a small note card fell out. He picked it up and began to read it.

_"So I guess you weren't serious when you said you wanted to work things out. I was going to say that you were right. That maybe we should stay married, see where this goes. But you made it abundantly clear tonight that obviously my views weren't the only ones that changed. Thanks for the memorable nine months. Congratulations, you're now a single man again."_

Carlos' eyes widened as he dropped the note card onto the bed. He shakily picked up the folded stack of papers, opening them to reveal divorce papers.

There at the bottom, in a dark unmistakable print, was Amanda's signature.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Well! I think this is it y'all! This has been a fun one for me to write...and it's definitely stretched me. But as I said before, this isn't the last you'll see of these characters! Kendall's story is next, and all I'll say is that he's in for a hell of a time!**

**A HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who read and reviewed this story! It means SO much to me that y'all would take the time out to tell me what you think of this! It's because of y'all that I've continued to publish what I've written...so THANK YOU! :)**

**Tokala**** - I KNOW! They just...they can't ever seem to win. Ahahaha! They're never on the same page for very long! And typically I find that the things that aren't easy are the most worthwhile. But I think, despite all the difficulty, Amanda and Carlos will find a happy end. :)  
****Emy. Elle**** - Ahahaha, but in Amanda's mind, it hasn't been a real marriage. They've remained married only because that judge made them. So for her, when that time frame ends, it suddenly becomes real and that idea scares her. Luckily she has people to knock some sense into her. :P  
****ValentineZombie**** - Amanda had barely made up her mind to stay married to Carlos. And remember, she thinks that he just completely stood her up while she sat there for two hours waiting for him. I imagine in that time frame, she got incredibly pissed and hurt and decided that since he was 'done' with her, she'd make it official. But I have a feeling that Carlos won't let that get in his way. ;-)  
****SuperSillyStories -**** Leaving him with the divorce papers was pretty shitty...but it made for a great cliffhanger! LMAO. I imagine in that huge house he probably has a fireplace! :P And ohhhh you've just disappeared! But don't worry...I'm sure Carlos will find you...maybe. :P  
Grayhap - I'm sorry! It has to end sometime! But like I said, you'll DEFINITELY see Amanda and Carlos in my next story! So it's not really ending...just the focus will shift more to Kendall! :)  
Thesandbar - I'M SORRY! Awww...I'm rather fond of my ass! :P I promise everything will be okay...as long as you promise not to murder me!  
**

* * *

Carlos sat there, frozen, staring at the signed divorce papers in his hand. After a few moments, he finally snapped out of it, grabbing the home phone and calling Amanda. He swore when the phone went straight to voicemail. Obviously she had turned it off, anticipating him. He left her a desperate voicemail, pleading with her. Hanging up, he swore once more and slammed the papers down on the bed.

He got up and began to pace around the room, hands coming up to scrub over his face. His mind was going a thousand miles per minute, trying to figure out what to do. Where would she have gone? It's not like she had family here. Carlos stopped in his tracks, eyes widening at the thought. Frantic, he grabbed the phone again and dialed once more.

The phone rang three times before being picked up.

"Carlos!" came James' voice. "Um, not that I'm not thrilled to hear from you and hear how the solo tour life is treating you...but it's Valentine's Day and I've got plans with a beautiful woman, after she finishes putting our daughter down for the night."

"Amanda's gone. She signed the divorce papers and left," Carlos said without preamble.

"Wait…what? What's going on? I thought she was staying behind while you were on tour? And Kate told me that she wanted to work things out. What happened?" James asked. Carlos could hear the confusion in his voice.

"I flew home tonight for Valentine's Day and was supposed to meet Amanda at that restaurant you recommended. My flight was delayed, my phone died and I ended up being three hours late. She had already left the restaurant by the time I got there. And when I got home I found divorce papers with her signature on them upstairs," he explained.

"There's no sign of her? She didn't say she was going anywhere?"

"No. All of her stuff is gone. James, I have no idea where she is. Would Kate know? Has she heard from her?" Carlos asked, starting to get desperate.

"Hold on. She just walked in; let me ask. Kate?" James said to his wife. "Have you heard from Amanda at all in the last few hours?" There was a pause as she responded, Carlos only making out a few mumbled phrases. "She hasn't heard from her. She's just as confused." Carlos could hear Kate speaking once more. "Yeah. Carlos can't find her," James said, obviously answering her.

"Damn it. I thought for sure she'd have gone to your place. Or at least talked to Kate," Carlos said, frustration seeping through.

"Just calm down man. We're on our way over."

* * *

"You called Cassie, right?" Kate asked the moment she walked through the door. She was followed by James carrying their sleeping daughter, Naomi. He immediately set her down and covered her up with the blanket that was slung over his shoulder. When he was sure that Naomi was settled, he followed the other two into the kitchen.

"Yeah. I called her the moment I got off the phone with you," Carlos replied. "She hasn't heard from her either. I checked the airlines, but nothing came up."

Kate frowned at him. "She can't have gone too far. Maybe she's at a hotel?"

"Oh man….that'll take forever to check out. It took us hours to check all the hotels in the area after you took off for Rome," James said, referencing to when Kate left years ago. Kate looked between the two men thoughtfully. Carlos noticed her expression, his own adopting an alert look.

"What? What are you thinking?" he asked her urgently.

"James just gave me an idea," she said in response. "I'm kind of an expert on running away, and well, that's exactly what Amanda did."

Carlos just stared at her. "Okay…so what? Is there some magical gathering place for the women who choose to run away from the men that love them or something?" Kate rolled her eyes.

"No, of course not. But think about it. When I left, I was sure that I was done with James." She looked up at her husband, taking his hand and squeezing it gently in reassurance. "The first place I went was Shelly's. I had no idea what I was planning to do, and she was the only person I considered as family. Once I was there, I decided what I wanted to do; I ended up going someplace that I've always wanted."

Again, Carlos just stared at her, not following.

"So you think Amanda's gone to some foreign country?"

Kate let out an impatient breath at him. "No! I had no clear cut career at the time, meaning I could do whatever. Amanda _does_ have a career and a goal in life. Tell me, did she want to go back home?" she asked. Carlos frowned at her.

"No. She's never been that big on her hometown. She even said she started the traveling catering business because it was too small for her."

"Okay," Kate said slowly, trying to think. "Was there anywhere in particular that she ever mentioned wanting to visit?"

Carlos shook his head again at her. "Not that I can think of. She's traveled quite a bit for her job." He paused for a moment, thinking back. "I don't think she's left town. Right before I left for tour she mentioned the idea of staying here in L.A., making this her permanent base. She even talked about getting a storefront location with an apartment above it."

Kate's eyes lit up. "Perfect. Give me a few minutes. I've got an idea!"

Before either man could say anything, Kate exited the room, phone already out and cradled on her shoulder as she walked out. Carlos blew out a breath, looking at James.

"Dude, you owe me," James said to his friend. "It's Valentine's day and instead of spending it alone with my wife, we're here with you."

Despite the panic he felt, Carlos laughed. "I appreciate it man. Sorry your day got wrecked too. I seem to be making a habit out of that."

James gave him a contemplative look.

"You're really serious about her, aren't you?" he asked, the beginnings of a small grin appearing at the corners of his mouth. Carlos nodded at him.

"Yeah, I am," was his simple response. James clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. You'll find her."

They were interrupted by Kate.

"Got her," she said, a triumphant grin on her face as she handed Carlos a small piece of paper.

* * *

Amanda was pissed. Of course most of that came from the fact that she was hurting, but oh man was she pissed. She had been stood up by her idiot of an husband. Well, soon to be ex-husband.

There she sat, waiting at the table Carlos had reserved, almost bouncing in her seat from excitement. She had brought the divorce papers that had been drawn up a few weeks ago, intent on destroying them in front of Carlos. It was going to be her way of telling him that she wanted to stay married. She couldn't contain the grin on her face at the thought of it. She was finally happy, and she wasn't going to destroy that.

But she just kept waiting. As it got later and later, that grin slowly faded. Humiliation crept in at the pitying glances she received from not only the waiter, but the other patrons as well. Then the anger hit. How could he do this to her? After everything that had happened between them, how could it end like this? As the two hour mark drew nearer, her mind was made up. Apparently Carlos had changed his mind as well, deciding that marriage wasn't in the cards for them. And he didn't even have the decency to tell her in person.

Well, if he could give her up that easily, then she could do the same for him. With her head held high, she left the restaurant. She headed back to the house and packed up her belongings. It gave her some pause as she stared at the divorce papers. But the hurt and anger was still there. Quickly she signed them and left them on his bed before leaving the house.

She knew where she was heading. And she was fairly certain that Carlos wouldn't be able to follow her. No one else knew about this place just yet. Sure, she had casually asked Kate a month or so ago about the realtor she had used when she purchased the building for her own store. And she had mentioned briefly to Carlos about wanting to stay in L.A. But still, she hadn't told anyone yet that she had found a place, much less purchased it.

It was small, unfurnished. The ground floor was completely gutted, making it an empty, clean slate for her to design however she wanted. The apartment above was charming, yet mostly empty. Amanda had only the bare essentials; that was all she had needed for the moment.

A knock sounding throughout the small apartment had her jumping. Wide eyed, she grabbed the frying pan she had just finished washing and walked slowly towards the door. She tried peeking through the peephole, but swore when she realized it was too small to properly make out the person on the other side. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and promptly dropped the pan to the floor in surprise.

"Amanda," Carlos breathed out on a sigh of relief. "You're really here."

Amanda stood there, staring at him. "H-how did you find me?" she finally stuttered out when it became clear he wasn't going to say anything else. "No one knows about this place."

"If you wanted this to remain a secret, then you shouldn't have used Kate's realtor," he responded, a wry grin on his face. "Can I come in?" he asked, eyebrows raising at her stiff posture. Amanda stepped aside to let him in.

Swearing inwardly at herself for her leaving even the slightest trail, she shut the door and turned to face her husband. The moment her eyes landed on his face, she felt the hurt and anger boil back up.

"Why the hell are you here? Oh wait, let me guess. The public humiliation of standing me up wasn't enough for you, was it?" she asked sarcastically. "You just had to come and see the effects for yourself."

"Manda, I didn't mean to stand you up…" Carlos was cut off by a snort of derision from her.

"Cut the shit, Romeo. You were over two hours late! And you didn't even bother to call. You made it pretty damn clear that it was over."

Carlos felt frustration bubble up in him. He took a deep breath, trying to control his temper.

"I didn't stand you up. Not on purpose, anyways," he started again.

"Oh really? Then why the hell were you so late? Too busy charming some other woman into your bed?" she taunted. Carlos' eyes flashed at her in warning.

"From the moment we met, my focus has only been on you. I've never once even looked at another woman, and you know that," he growled lowly at her. Realizing she had overstepped, Amanda backed up.

"Fine," she conceded. "You're right. But that doesn't explain why you never showed up. Or why you're suddenly through with us."

"If you would let me speak, maybe I could explain," Carlos snapped out. Amanda crossed her arms, an impatient look on her face. "My flight got delayed. My phone had died while I was waiting in the terminal, and I'd left my charger on the bus. I had no way of contacting you. I raced to the restaurant the moment I landed, but you had already left. Manda, I didn't stand you up."

Amanda let his words sink in, her expression softening slightly. But she couldn't just let it go. "What kind of idiot leaves his charger when his phone is dying?"

He laughed at that, pulling her into his arms. Amanda remained stiff, refusing to let him sneak his way back in. Carlos could feel her reluctance. He pulled back, peering at her face with a puzzled expression.

"What is it?" he asked her. "You know that I didn't mean to stand you up and that I _don't_ want to leave you…"

"Yeah but that doesn't change what happened," Amanda said, cutting him off once more.

"What do you mean?" Carlos asked, confusion clear in his face.

"I just…this made me realize that maybe I'm really not ready to be married."

Carlos could have swore; in fact, he had to count to five in his head to keep from doing it aloud. "Manda, a few hours ago you wanted to work things out. One simple misunderstanding can't have really made you feel otherwise."

"Oh yeah? You try sitting there in a big fancy restaurant, all done up, waiting for your MIA husband, trying to ignore the questioning looks and pitying glances from the other assholes around you, enjoying their Valentine's Day. It's humiliating! And yeah, it did make me rethink some things. I don't know that I can do this – this thing with you anymore," she yelled out at him.

As he stood there, listening to her, Carlos could see the frustration that was built up in her. He felt his heart pound at the idea of her not wanting to be with him. Desperate, he grabbed onto her arms to keep her from running off.

"I'm sorry! I'll say it a million times if you want me to. I'm sorry, Amanda, for doing that to you! But it wasn't on purpose. I love you, and I want to be with you. And I know you love me too. Damn it, Manda. Stop trying to deny what we have together," he demanded.

Amanda started at him, feeling her emotions bubbling up. "I – I…I just don't think it's a good idea," she stuttered out. This time, Carlos did swear aloud.

"Fuck," he muttered as he let go of her arms. Impatiently he pulled out the divorce papers from his back pocket. He opened them up and stared at them. "You want me to sign these?" he asked her quietly.

She was silent for a moment, hesitating. Did she really want him to do that? To sign away the life that they had built together in the last nine months? If Amanda was honest with herself, then no. She loved him, and yes, she wanted to be with him. But she was scared. Scared of the idea of doing this for real. What if she messed up? Hell, she freaked over a simple misunderstanding. How could they handle real problems? Resolutely, she nodded at him. "Yes," she whispered.

Carlos caught on to her hesitation, his heart jumping at that. "I've got a better idea," he said right before ripping the papers in half. Amanda gaped at him.

"You fucking idiot!" she gasped out. "Damn it! I had to pay a lawyer to draw those up! Ugh…that's gonna cost me another arm and a leg to have them done again! You asshole!"she swore. Carlos just smirked at her.

"You'll just be wasting your money, because I'll do the same thing to those. Hell, I'll burn them if I have to. I love you, and I want you till death do us part. I'm not letting you go, Amanda," he stated.

Her heart leapt in her chest as his declaration. "But what if we can't make it work?" she asked him. Carlos smiled at her, seeing her defenses breaking down.

"We've made it work this long, haven't we? And we weren't even together for half of it," he joked. Amanda couldn't help it; a small smile broke out onto her face. Carlos took her back into his arms. "It's not going to be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. And Manda, you're absolutely worth it."

"Really?" she asked. "I mean, damn straight I'm worth it!"

Carlos laughed and kissed her, his mouth coming down hard on hers. He rested his forehead against hers, smiling against her mouth.

"You're a piece of work," he muttered, a laugh in his voice. Amanda relaxed into his embrace, smiling at him.

"Yeah, but I'm your piece of work."

"Forever?" he asked lightly.

His dark eyes stared into her own, making her heart flutter at the look in them. Amanda saw nothing but love and trust in them. She felt his fingertips running in soft circles against her skin, calming her. She felt safe, and completely at ease with him. Her decision made, she grinned at him before nodding.

"Yeah. Forever."

With a shout of triumph, Carlos picked her up and spun her around, making Amanda laugh. She pressed her mouth back to his, kissing him deeply. Her laughter against his lips made him pull back, staring down quizzically at her.

"What's so funny?"

"Who knew that a drunken Vegas marriage to a random pop star would turn out to be the love of my life?" she asked, laughing at the idea. Carlos grinned down at her.

"Best hangover ever."


End file.
